King Charles will not appear on new Australia $5 note

King Charles III will not feature on Australia’s new five dollar note, the country’s central bank has announced.

The new design will pay tribute to “the culture and history of the First Australians”, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) says.

A portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II appears on the current design of five dollar note.

The Queen’s death last year reignited debates about Australia’s future as a constitutional monarchy.

“This decision by the Reserve Bank Board follows consultation with the Australian government, which supports this change,” the bank said in a statement.

“The Bank will consult with First Australians in designing the $5 banknote. The new banknote will take a number of years to be designed and printed. In the meantime, the current $5 banknote will continue to be issued. It will be able to be used even after the new banknote is issued,” it added.

The RBA currently has no plans to change the design of any other denomination of Australian banknotes, a spokesperson told the BBC.

It has not yet set a date for when it will reveal the new five dollar note design, they added.

The decision was welcomed by Aboriginal politicians and community leaders.

“This is a massive win for the grassroots, First Nations people who have been fighting to decolonise this country,” Lidia Thorpe, a Greens senator and DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman.

First Nations people lived in Australia for at least 65,000 years before British colonisation, according to recent estimates.