Australia prints 46 million banknotes with typo

Canberra: Australia has printed 46 million of its new $50 notes with a typo, the country's Reserve Bank said on Thursday.

The "new and improved" 50 Australian dollars banknote was rolled out in October 2018, with a host of new technologies designed to improve accessibility and prevent counterfeiting. But the yellow note also contains a typo that misspells the word "responsibility".

The RBA said the error would be fixed in future print runs. But for now, around 46 million of the new notes are in use across the country, news.com.au reported.

These note features the Indigenous writer and inventor David Unaipon on one side, and Edith Cowan -- Australia's first female member of Parliament -- on the other, as it has since 1995.

The RBA printed "micro-text" on the note with excerpts of Unaipon's book -- "Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines" -- and Cowan's first speech to Parliament.

The small error occurred on Cowan's side in the text of her speech. "It is a great responsibilty (sic) to be the only woman here and I want to emphasise the necessity which exists for other women being here," it says.

An RBA spokeswoman on Thursday said the bank was "aware of it and the spelling will be corrected at the next print run".

An RBA release in October described Australia's $50 note as the "most popular note", accounting for nearly half of the total value of all those in circulation.

The RBA has already released new versions of the country's $5 and $10 banknotes and an upgraded $20 note is expected later this year.