New $10 note to help the blind and vision-impaired

Australia's new $10 note will be on display in Melbourne, after the blind and vision-impaired communities advocated for its tactile features.

The newly designed $10 note in Sydney. Source: AAP

Half of all blind people believe they have been short-changed in the past, so there's a lot of excitement about Australia's new $10 note.

The soon to be released note has a special tactile feature and people with impaired vision will be among the first to touch and feel the new note in Melbourne on Friday.

It will remain the same colour and shape, while keeping Banjo Paterson and Mary Gilmore, but will also feature two raised bumps on each long edge.

It joins the recently released $5 note - which also has the feature - and was the result of campaigning by Vision Australia together with a petition from a NSW teenager.

The blind teenager Connor McLeod who started petitioning the Reserve Bank at age 12 to introduce tactile banknotes. Source: AAP

Vision Australia Chief Executive Officer Ron Hooton says the tactile notes give people who are blind or have low vision more confidence as they spend their money.

"Everyone needs to know how much cash they are carrying, handing over at a check-out or receiving in change," Mr Hooton said in a statement on Friday.

"It will allow people to conduct their business without relying on other people or a device to identify their money, and that's so important in terms of their independence and social inclusion."

Surveys done by Vision Australia found more than half of respondents believed they had been short-changed in the past, while 60 per cent with severe to total blindness said they have trouble differentiating between standard banknotes.

The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to include tactile features on all new notes, with the $10 set for official release in September.

"We are very pleased to have this opportunity to introduce the new $10 banknote and are encouraged that the new series has been well received by members of the community," Reserve Bank Assistant Governor Lindsay Boulton said.