Anniversary of David Unaipon’s First Appearance on the $50 Note

4 October

On 4 October 1995, Australia issued its first polymer fifty-dollar banknote featuring David Unaipon. The Ngarrindjeri writer, inventor and advocate appears alongside imagery connected with his work and Raukkan, the community where he grew up. The anniversary recognises his contribution and invites learning beyond the familiar portrait.

Why 4 October is the anniversary

The Reserve Bank of Australia records 4 October 1995 as the first issue date of the polymer fifty-dollar note featuring Unaipon and Edith Cowan. The date is also printed in the Bank’s information brochure for that series.

The redesigned fifty-dollar note entered circulation on 18 October 2018 and retained both people. That later issue is a separate milestone. This carousel entry uses the original 1995 date, marking when Unaipon first appeared on the denomination.

The person behind the portrait

Unaipon was born at Point McLeay Mission, now Raukkan, in South Australia. His interests and public work encompassed writing, scientific ideas, invention and advocacy. His story challenges a narrow account of Aboriginal knowledge and achievement.

State Records of South Australia preserves material relating to his early life and discusses his mechanical work, including a sheep-shearing device. The banknote’s design refers to that invention, but his significance should not be reduced to a single device or to the fact that his portrait appears on money.

Writing, authorship and acknowledgement

Unaipon collected and recorded stories during the 1920s. His manuscript, Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines, is part of the history of Aboriginal writing as well as the history represented on the banknote.

The Reserve Bank’s museum explains that William Ramsay Smith published the manuscript’s material under his own name in 1930. An edition crediting Unaipon appeared in 2001. This history makes authorship, attribution and respect for cultural knowledge important parts of learning about him.

How the banknote tells a story

The 1995 design combined Unaipon’s portrait with references to his writing, invention and the church at Raukkan. The Reserve Bank’s museum describes how the choice of people for the banknote followed consultation with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission’s board.

The later design developed the Ngarrindjeri context further through consultation and additional imagery. Comparing the two notes offers a way to consider how public representations change, which details are included and why the perspectives of the people represented matter.

Ways to mark the anniversary

Begin with Unaipon’s life and writing, then examine the banknote as one form of recognition. A useful learning activity is to distinguish the first issue date, the later redesign and the much earlier dates of his work.

Discuss who receives credit when knowledge and stories are published, and how accurate attribution can be put into practice. Follow cultural advice and reproduction permissions when using historical images or banknote designs. Recognition through a national symbol can encourage learning, but should not replace listening to First Nations people or respecting the ownership of their knowledge.

Sources and further reading

The original $50 polymer banknote. Reserve Bank of Australia. The first issue date, the people depicted and the 1995 design.
The original $50 polymer banknote

$50 banknote brochure. Reserve Bank of Australia. A second official record confirming first issue on 4 October 1995.
$50 banknote brochure

Innovation. Reserve Bank of Australia Museum. Unaipon’s work, authorship, selection for the note and the changing imagery.
Innovation

David Unaipon: The man on the $50 note. State Records of South Australia. Archival background to his life, invention and recognition.
David Unaipon: The man on the $50 note

The redesigned $50 banknote. Reserve Bank of Australia. Identifies 18 October 2018 as the later circulation date.
The redesigned $50 banknote