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Money Matters

local currency

Curency name: Australian dollar. Denominations: 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 1, 2, 0.50, 0.20 and 0.05. The banknotes are made of plastic.

banknotes coins
Australian Banknotes
©2006 Gabriel Ditu
Australian coins
©2006 Gabriel Ditu

banking

Beside the local banks, you can find in the Capital Cities of Australia many foreign banks as well. Before you travel to Australia make sure that your bank is doing retail banking in Australia or what arrangements are in place for its customers.

Banking hours are in general 9:30am - 4.00pm Monday to Friday and they are closed during the weekend and public holiday. If you can avoid over the counter transactions is best. The Australian banks are into making a profit and not in serving you. As a result you can expect queues, they do not have the denominations you ask for, they don't offer services in remote areas and so on.

travellers cheques

American Express travellers Cheque
©2006 Gabriel Ditu

Avoid cash as much as possible. Traveller's cheques issued by Thomas Cook or American Express are usually accepted by the major stores. You need your passport for identification.

Tip: in general the banks will have lower fees for exchanging the cheques to cash.

For convenience try also your hotel.


credit cards

Credit Cards
The credit cards are largely accepted in Australia if are: Master Card, Visa, Diners Club and American Express. Keep in mind, that are stores not accepting credit cards at all and stores that can ask you for a minimum purchase of 10 to 20 dollars to accept the credit card payment. Credit cards are my preferred option here and overseas.

exchange offices

Exchange Offices or Bureaux de Change can be easily found in large cities. Usually are opened Monday to Saturday 9am-5pm. Convenient but expensive. See our Exchange Rates page.
29 March
1901 - The first federal election of the Commonwealth of Australia elected members and senators to the first Parliament of Australia.

1963 - Supermodel, Elle McPherson is born in Killara, New South Wales.
Australian slang
  • dunny outside un-sewered toilet
  • bottle shop liquor shop
  • long paddock the side of the road
  • Down Under Australia
  • bull dust rubbish
  • greenie environmentalist
  • piss beer, urinate
  • damper bread made from flour and water
  • cut snake, mad as a very angry
Exchange calculator

Amount to exchange:
From currency:
To currency:
Amount to receive:

Disclaimer: The result is based on an inter banking rate and does not contain the variations introduced by the Exchange Office to make a profit out of the transaction. As a result you would sell your currency a bit cheaper than it actually is.