The design of the new $5 note includes a Prickly Moses wattle (Acacia verticillata subsp. ovoidea) and the Eastern Spinebill bird (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris).

Morgan Spearritt from the bank note department of the Reserve Bank will be speaking about the new design at the Canberra Southern Cross Yacht Club on Thursday, September 1, for the Wattle Day Association. The public is welcome.

Her colleague in the bank note department, James Holloway, said the old-design notes would no longer be produced and eventually go out of circulation.

"There are 175 million $5 bank notes currently in circulation and we've produced enough to cover that," Mr Holloway said.

The design of the new generation $5 note was developed after three concept designs were commissioned by the Reserve Bank.

Ms Spearritt said that particular species of wattle was chosen for a number of reasons.

It had to be one that was not restricted to only one part of Australia, a type that would fit with the bird, and a shade of yellow that could be accommodated by the limitations of the printing process.

"It doesn't really allow you to do any colour under the sun," she said.

Mr Holloway said a crucial part of the design was new security features to "keep ahead of the counterfeiters".

These including the Easter Spinebill itself, with the colours and design hopefully too intricate to be accurately reproduced.

Details of all the Wattle Day activities in Canberra and details on how to book for the Wattle Day dinner are at www.wattleday.asn.au/about-wattle-day/wattle-events/registration-for-events