Australian Notes Act 1910

The Australian Notes Act 1910 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which allowed for the creation of Australia's first national banknotes. In conjunction with the Coinage Act 1909 it created the Australian pound as a separate national currency from the pound sterling.

The act was enacted on 16 September 1910 by the Fisher Labour Government under Section 51 (xii) of the Constitution of Australia, which gives the Commonwealth Parliament the power to legislate with respect to “currency, coinage, and legal tender.”

The act gave control over the issue of Australian notes to the Commonwealth Treasury and prohibited the circulation of state notes and withdrew their status as legal tender. The Bank Notes Tax Act 1910, enacted in October of that year imposed a prohibitive tax on banknotes issued by banks in Australia by imposing an annual tax of 10% on "all bank notes issued or re-issued by any bank in the Commonwealth after the commencement of this Act and not redeemed", which effectively ended the use of private currency in Australia.