About the records


Title Records of CSIRO, Division of Chemicals and Polymers, Currency Note Research and Development Project
Date Range 1934 - 1989
Reference B5609
Creator Fishermens Bend
Extent 5.72 metres
Repository National Archives of Australia, Victorian Office
Abstract Following the appearance of forged $10 notes in 1967 and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)'s concern about the imminent release of colour photocopiers, cooperative research between CSIRO and Note Issue Department (NID) of the RBA began. The Currency Note Research and Development (CNRD) Project was developed, aiming to combat forgery of bank notes. The project largely centred on the CSIRO Division of Applied Organic Chemistry, later the Division of Chemicals and Polymers. The plastic $10 note was issued to the public in 1988.

Administrative Information

This collection was not the product of a single filing or records management system. Rather, it represents material brought together from the records of a number of individual scientists who worked on the Plastic Banknote project, particularly David Solomon and Sefton Hamann.

As a first step, staff who had worked on the project were surveyed to obtain basic details of the surviving documentation. This survey data was entered into a database and used to determine which records were to be archived. These were then processed and their contents listed in detail. Most of this work was carried out on-site at CSIRO's Division of Chemicals and Polymers in Clayton.

Access: As Commonwealth Government archives, these records are unavailable for open public access for 30 years from the date of their production. As a result, the entire collection will not be on public access until 2019. Persons wishing to consult these records before then are therefore required to obtain written authority from the CSIRO Division of Chemicals and Polymers. For further information on access contact Australian Archives.

  • The records have been allocated to 15 series. The codes used to uniquely identify each series range from 01 to 15.

  • Through the processing of the records, 22 provenance entities were identified. The codes used to uniquely identify each provenance entity, i.e. records creator or custodian, range from PLP0001 to PLP0022.

  • The inventory covers items, and may include records of continuing value, records sentenced for destruction and records that have been destroyed. The codes used to uniquely identify each inventory item range from PLBN00001 to PLBN01032. The total collection occupies 572 linear cm of shelf space (or its equivalent).

  • The documentation of the records at inventory level started on 10 May 2004. The latest additions were made on 14 May 2004. The latest modifications were made on 29 June 2007. This collection profile was updated on 8 November 2007.


Published by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre on AustehcWeb, June 2004
With support from CSIRO Division of Chemicals and Polymers and The University of Melbourne
Listed by Roderick Buchanan, Gavan McCarthy and Oscar Manhal
HTML edition Ailie Smith
Updated 8 November 2007
http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/plbn/about.htm

The template for this finding aid is part of the Heritage Documentation Management System

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