The people depicted on the paper note issue were Sir
Charles Kingsford Smith on the
obverse along with five
Lissajous curves drawn by a two-pendulum
harmonograph, and
Lawrence Hargrave on the reverse with his drawings of
kites and
aircraft designs. The polymer note features
Mary Reibey on the obverse with an early colonial building and sailing ship including her signature.
John Flynn (founder of Frontier Services) is on the reverse with features of the
Royal Flying Doctor Service of a
De Havilland DH.50 biplane Victory supplied by
Qantas, a representation of the pedal wireless invented by Alfred Hermann Traeger, Coledge Harland (the man on the
camel), who was a missionary to the inland people of Australia (
Australian Inland Mission which later became Frontier Services). His signature is included. A
compass is in the clear window with the raised 20 lettering. Colouration is said to be either red or orange but has been debated many times over the years. The colour is a mix of both Clinton red and orange and dates back to the first $20 paper note, the mix of colour representing colours of the outback. The "Next Generation" $20 banknote features the same Australian personalities as the previous design together with other design features. A noticeable difference between the old and new designs is the replacement of
Victory with a depiction of a
de Havilland Dragon Rapide taking off from a remote homestead in
Broken Hill. The new design also retains the traditional red orange colour mix for the note. This note was released into circulation on 9 October 2019. ==Security features==