Vision Australia applauds the Reserve Bank of Australia, who today announced that the next generation of Australian banknotes will include a tactile feature to assist people who are blind or have low vision differentiate between different denominations.
A recent Vision Australia survey found that almost half of totally blind respondents feel they are being short changed on occasion. The same survey found 61% of respondents with severe to total blindness had trouble differentiating between banknotes.
Existing features of banknotes such a bright colours and large bold numbers can help people who have low vision to tell the difference between different denominations of Australian banknotes, but this is not enough.
General Manager of Advocacy and Engagement, Maryanne Diamond AO, said the announcement from the RBA is a significant step that will have a measureable impact on the independence and confidence of the 350,000 Australians who are blind or have low vision.
“All members of the community should be able to simply differentiate notes by touch, without using additional devices or asking others for assistance.”
“We have led the campaign for tactile features on banknotes for many years. Countless submissions have been made to the RBA and the Federal Government by generations of advocates, so it’s pleasing to hear the commitment to tactile features made today,” Ms Diamond said.
In addition to this ongoing advocacy role, Vision Australia recently joined 12 year old Connor McLeod’s complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission. Connor, who is blind had already started a change.org petition with more than 56,000 supporters calling for action on accessibility features.
“This is a great outcome for Connor, and he should be very proud of the significant result his efforts have contributed to,” Ms Diamond said.
Around 100 Vision Australia clients were involved in consultations and research undertaken by the RBA late last year, the results of which supported the need for tactile features.
Vision Australia welcomes the consultative approach taken by the RBA in assessing the needs of the blindness and low vision community and looks forward to learning further details about the tactile feature due to be included in the next generation of banknotes as they are announced in the coming months.