Australia's new five-dollar bill to feature raised 'dots' to help blind

Blind and vision-impaired Australians will for the first time be able feel the differences between banknotes when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) releases its latest five-dollar (four U.S. dollar) note on Sept. 1.

The new, tactile five-dollar note will feature two small raised 'dots' which blind Australians can feel for before they hand over the bill.

Vision Australia's Bruce Maguire said the new development was the "most significant inclusive action" ever undertaken for the vision-impaired at a federal level, and it would assist an estimated 360,000 Australians - and countless tourists - who are vision-impaired.

"For the first time in the history of Australian currency it will be possible for someone who is blind or vision-impaired to just pick up a note and know instantly what it is," Maguire told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday.

"As a blind person I think this change is one of the most significant inclusive actions I've seen in Australia in my lifetime because while there have been other inclusive actions, like audible pedestrian crossings, they're not universal, they differ from state to state."

Maguire said that previously, vision-impaired Australians had to rely on trust of strangers and cashiers to make sure they are getting correct change, but this new development is expected to assist the blind for the life of each bank note, thanks to a unique method of printing each bill.

"In the last few years (the Reserve Bank) has developed a technology that allows the tactile feature to be made as part of the note itself ... so it should last as long as the note," Maguire said.

The new five-dollar bank note is set to be released in Australia on Sept. 1, with other denominations to follow over time. Endit