RBA

Through the Reserve Bank’s damaged banknote claims service, members of the public can ask for their damaged banknotes to be assessed and the value redeemed. Removing poor-quality banknotes also supports the Bank’s aim of ensuring that the public has confidence in Australian banknotes as a means of payment and a…

Counterfeiting of Australian banknotes is approaching its lowest level in a decade. Several factors are playing a role in this decline, including fewer transactions being made with cash, COVID-19-induced lockdowns, the rollout of a new banknote series with upgraded security features, and law enforcement continuing to interrupt counterfeiting operations. This…

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to large disruptions to the Australian labour market. Initially, workers were less likely to change jobs because of the uncertain economic environment, the decrease in advertised jobs and the JobKeeper program that helped workers remain attached to their employers. More recently, job mobility has increased…

Australia’s First Nations business sector is growing at a pace of around 4 per cent per year, fuelled by growing demand. However, many budding First Nations entrepreneurs still face substantial barriers to establishing a successful business. This article discusses the need to develop trust for effective policy environments that support…

The ratio of household liquid assets to household income in Australia has increased substantially over recent decades, at both the aggregate and individual household levels. The increase in buffers has been most pronounced for households with mortgage debt and among indebted households – with those with the most debt typically…

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and building on policies introduced during the global financial crisis, central banks in advanced economies deployed balance sheet policies to support their economies and address disruptions to the smooth functioning of financial markets. The introduction of these policies has changed how most of these…

This article updates previous Reserve Bank research on bank fees charged to Australian households, businesses and government. Since 2021, improved data on the fees charged by banks have been available from the new Economic and Financial Statistics collection, which replaced the survey on banks’ fee income undertaken annually since 1997…

The bank bill swap rate (BBSW) is an important short-term benchmark interest rate for Australian financial markets across various maturities. It is a robust benchmark based on a liquid market. However, it is possible that, at some point in the future, BBSW might no longer be robust. Market participants need…