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Australia uses decimal currency after abandoning the confusing old English system of pounds shillings and pence. Decimal currency was introduced on February 14th 1966.
It was not until 1985 that the $100 note was introduced.
1c and 2c coins were phased out and $1 and $2 notes became coins.
Coins range from 5c 10c 20c 50c $1 and $2. The $1 and $2 coins are gold in colour while the rest are silver. 1c 2c coins and $1 and $2 notes are no longer valid currency.
Bank notes range from $5 $10 $20 $50 and $100 they are all now made of a polymer material that was supposed to foil would be counterfeiters. It didn't take too long for
that illusion to be shattered.
While on the subject of money, the town with the highest median weekly wage is? No not Perth, it's Wiluna with $897 a week. Perth at $531 comes in at 13th behind towns like
Leonora $861, Sandstone $845, Yalgoo $765, Cue $746, Laverton $707, Meekatharra $652 and others. With the end of the mining boom these figures are likely to change in the 2016 census.
The poorest towns in the state? Well at bottom of the heap are Halls Creek $198, Murchison $197 and Ngaanyatjarraku with a paltry $150.
The difference between rich and poor has always been substantial and an interesting comparison from the early days shows indentured servants earning three pounds a year while those at the top levels of government making 200-400 pounds a year.
The Master and Servant Act of 1842 made sure that employers could severely punish any employee who left their service and even have them thrown in prison. When it came to workers getting their just entitlements it was quite another story. Most were illiterate and few had the resources to take their employers to court. From 1833 one third of an employees wages could be made up of rum and this gave employers a great opportunity to cheat employees by overvaluing the alcohol. Conditions did not start to improve for most workers until 1892.
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