After launching the new Australian decimal system of currency in 1966, a major counterfeit fraud involving the $10 note was detected within the first 12 months of circulation.

Working with the government’s scientific department, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the University of Melbourne, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) invested around $20m over the next two decades to develop a new paradigm in currency security.

The first polymer banknote was issued as a commemorative $10 note in 1988, the year of Australia’s bicentenary, containing both the first transparent window and first hologram of any type, making it the most secure banknote of its time. After being successfully received by the public, the RBA introduced a $5 note for general circulation in 1992 followed by successive notes in the years following.

In 1996, as the popularity of the new polymer currency became apparent, Securency International was formed in a joint venture between the RBA and Innovia, the manufacturer of the polymer material which is known as Guardian^® banknote substrate.

With a heritage of innovation and technical expertise, and with a product that is as easy to authenticate as it is difficult to replicate, Securency has been at the forefront of change and influence in an industry that has remained paper-based and relatively static for around 200 years.

Securency today is an organisation unified in its vision of being the leader in banknote counterfeit prevention, secure in the knowledge that its ground-breaking and inspirational work in banknote security is only just beginning.