Matthew Rimmer<p>The Reserve Bank of Australia has faced a number of complaints in the past over misappropriation of Indigenous IP (from Malangi, Yumbulul, and the Unaipon family). How will the Bank fare this time round - as it commissions a new design for the $5 dollar note?</p><p>'The Reserve Bank of Australia has opened submissions for an artwork to honour the “enduring emotional, spiritual and physical connection” of First Nations people to the land, seas and waters dating back thousands of years... </p><p>Australian bank notes and coins have borne images or engravings of Indigenous peoples, plants and animals since the 19th century, when the country still used pound sterling.</p><p>The £1 banknote, first issued in June 1923, was a homage to the artist E Phillips Fox’s Landing of Captain Cook at Botany Bay, which depicted then Lt James Cook and Joseph Banks’ point of first contact – with Gweagal warriors and their spears armed resistance to the encroachment of territory.</p><p>In 1966, however, the artwork on the new A$1 note marked the first Aboriginal copyright dispute, after the Reserve Bank failed to seek permission from Arnhem Land artist David Malangi when it reproduced his work on the note. He was later paid $1,000, a medallion and a fishing kit.</p><p>The $2 coin has depicted the image of Gwoya Tjungurrayi, sometimes referred to as “One Pound Jimmy”, since 1988. Tjungurrayi survived one of Australia’s last recorded frontier massacres in 1928 where 60 men, women and children were murdered in the Northern Territory.</p><p>In 1995, the RBA released the $5o note, which depicted the author, explorer and inventor David Unaipon, from the Ngarrindgerri nation of present day South Australia.</p><p>Entries for the redesign close in April.'<br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/17/australia-5-dollar-note-redesign-first-nations" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/australia-news</span><span class="invisible">/2025/mar/17/australia-5-dollar-note-redesign-first-nations</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/IndigenousIP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousIP</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/copyright" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>copyright</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/auspol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>auspol</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/auslaw" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>auslaw</span></a></p>