Crikey! Confused Australians are unable to tell who is on the new $20 note – with some guessing it’s Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin
- A poll found one in four Aussies couldn’t tell whose faces grace the $20 note
- Incorrect guesses included Hugh Jackman, Steve Irwin and Sir Donald Bradman
- More than 160 million orange notes are in circulation around the country
Confused Australians have been unable to name the person pictured on the $20 note – with some thinking Hugh Jackman, Gough Whitlam or Steve Irwin were on it.
A poll conducted by consumer comparison website finder.com.au found that a quarter of Aussies don’t know who adorns the note.
‘Two per cent of people we surveyed thought Steve Irwin was on the $20 note,’ Graham Cooke, insights manager at finder.com.au told Daily Mail Australia.
And another eight per cent thought former prime minister Gough Whitlam was on the note.
With the release of the new $20 note this month (pictured, a poll found that a quarter of Aussies don’t know who they’ve been looking at for the last 25 years.
Only 23 per cent of people correctly guessed that Mary Reibey and Reverend John Flynn are the faces of the country’s $20 notes.
Reverend Flynn was a Presbyterian minister who founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service, while Reibey was a convict brought to Australia in the 1700s who went on to build a business empire.
Two per cent of people we surveyed thought Steve Irwin was on the $20 note
The poll found 19 per cent could identify just Reibey, while 17 per cent correctly named Reverend Flynn.
‘A fair percentage of people also made some interesting guesses, like Don Bradman, who was named by 5 per cent of people,’ Mr Cooke said.
New $20 notes with a fresh redesign will be circulated from this month, following changes to the $5, $10 and $50 notes.
Reibey and Reverend Flynn will still appear on them.
More than 160 million orange notes are in circulation around the country, but only around 10 per cent of all notes in Australia are $20 bills, according to the Reserve Bank.
Mr Cooke said the amount of incorrect guesses reflects that the world is moving towards becoming cashless.
‘On a separate question, our survey shows that one in four people carry no cash at all – which perhaps explains the lack of knowledge,’ Mr Cooke said.
‘With ATM cash withdrawals decreasing and the number of card payment points across Australia increasing dramatically, we expect this percentage to increase.
‘Paying at shops, getting public transport — you do it from your mobile phone now. Not only is it possible to not carry cash around, but it’s increasingly unnecessary to carry a wallet.
‘We could be looking at a basically cashless society in the next ten years.’
Only 23 per cent of people correctly guessed that Mary Reibey and Reverend John Flynn are the faces of the country’s $20 notes