Australia’s new $5 note has features to help blind people

Australia's new $5 banknote is breaking new ground with a tactile feature designed to make it easier to use for people with visual impairments. The updated bill, which the Reserve Bank of Australia announced earlier this year, entered circulation on Thursday.

It includes a raised bump on each of its long edges to support the nearly 360,000 community members who are blind or have limited vision.

In 2014, Vision Australia backed a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission over the inaccessibility of the notes, led by Sydney teenager Connor McLeod, who is blind. His campaign began when he could not tell how much cash he had been given for Christmas.

Signatures

With his mother

Ally Lancaster

, McLeod launched a Change.org petition that led to more than 57,000 signatures calling for tactile features on Australian currency being presented to the government.

Bruce Maguire, policy adviser of Vision Australia, said it was a "significant win" for inclusiveness.

Research conducted by the organisation found that 61 per cent of Australians who are totally blind have difficulty differentiating between denominations, while nearly half did not receive the right change on occasion. –Guardian Service