All banks in Australia are authorised to act as the Reserve Bank's agent in accepting and, where possible, assessing mutilated notes lodged with them by the public. Banks may also exchange fit notes for mutilated notes where there is sufficient physical evidence to assess the claim. Some badly mutilated notes may require specialist examination before a claim can be reimbursed, and these are referred to the Reserve Bank for further assessment. The Bank assesses claims only against clear evidence of the quantity and denomination of notes involved. Banks have been provided with guidelines on how such notes should be valued.
Nothing is paid if less than half the note is present.
The presence or absence of the serial number of a note is not a determining factor in this process. All rights reserved.