The Australian one-hundred-dollar note was first issued in 1984 as a paper note. There have been two different issues of this denomination: initially a very light turquoise-blue paper note, and from May 1996, a green polymer note. Since the start of issue there have been six signature combinations. Two other combinations were not issued.

Design

The paper issue was released on Monday 31 March 1984, has a portrait of

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

explorer Sir

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

, with a background of a mountain range with a geological

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...

format. A large diamond shape appears to the left of the main picture. Astronomer John Tebbutt is on the reverse, with a background of the observatory he built and a local church. The polymer issue was released on Wednesday 15 May 1996, designed by Bruce Stewart, and features portraits of soprano Dame Nellie Melba and engineer and

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

general Sir

John Monash General (Australia), General Sir John Monash (; 27 June 1865 – 8 October 1931) was an Australian civil engineer and military commander of the World War I, First World War. He commanded the 13th Brigade (Australia), 13th Infantry Brigade befor ...

, along with images from the First World War and John Simpson Kirkpatrick and his donkey. A new design of the banknote, part of the Reserve Bank's Next Generation Banknote Program, was released into circulation on Thursday 29 October 2020.

Security features

The paper design includes a

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations i ...

of Captain

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

in the white field, and a metallic strip embedded in the paper to the left (on the obverse side) of the note. The same watermark was used in the last issue of the pre-decimal banknotes. The polymer issue includes a shadow image of the Australian Coat of Arms, which is printed over. In the clear window, there is embossing—or a raised image—of the number 100 and a print of a lyrebird. Also for this issue,

fluorescent Fluorescence is one of two kinds of photoluminescence, the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation, many substances will glow (fluoresce) with color ...

colouring was added to the serial numbers, as well as a patch that shows the banknote's value under

ultraviolet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...

light. The star's four points on the obverse and three on the reverse join to form the seven-pointed Federation Star when the note is held up to the light. Raised print and micro-printing of the denomination value are also included.

Circulation

According to Reserve Bank of Australia statistics, the number of $100 banknotes in circulation in June 2005 was 149 million—18.5% of all notes in circulation. The cash value for these notes was $14,924 million—41.9% of the total value for all denominations. Only the $50 note had more cash value in circulation. In June 2008 there were 176.9 million notes in circulation (19%), with a value of $17,690 million (42.1%). In June 2017, 337 million $100 notes were in circulation, 22% of the total notes in circulation; worth $33,689 million, 46% of the total value for all denominations. In December 2016 it was reported that Australia considered abolishing its $100 note as an effort to close loopholes used by the black economy. However, the

Reserve Bank of Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the ''Reserve Bank Act 1959'' removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank. Th ...

officially stated that there are no plans to abolish the $100 note.

Design

Security features

Circulation

References

Further reading