Australian Cash Mandate

A government mandate that takes effect on January 1, 2026, will require Australian businesses offering essential goods and services to accept cash payments. The Treasury will determine which businesses the mandate will affect, taking into account a business’s size, location, and capacity to handle cash. The mandate targets large and medium-size establishments, such as supermarkets, banks, pharmacies, and gas stations.

“We don’t want to penalize small businesses. We want to find an appropriate way to carve out small businesses,” says Treasurer Jim Chalmers. “We recognize regional pressures and other pressures to make sure that the focus isn’t on penalties. The focus is on making sure that the medium-size and bigger businesses that sell essentials are taking the cash.”

Even though credit-card and digital payments are prevalent, about 1.5 million Australians still use cash for more than 80 percent of their in-person transactions. “We want to make sure that cash is available in communities and that people can pay for essentials with cash if they want to and if they need to,” Chalmers says.

Checks, however, are a different story. They will stay in circulation for now but will no longer be issued nationwide after June 30, 2028. Checks will not be accepted as legal tender in Australia after September 30, 2029.

In a joint statement, Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones says, “These reforms are all about modernizing Australia’s payments system to ensure our financial sector is competitive, efficient, and delivering for the economy and the Australian people.”