Australia’s payments landscape is changing as digital payments become more common. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Australian Treasury were exploring whether there was a public interest case for a retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), a digital form of money that could be used alongside cash. A key question was whether Australians had unmet payment needs that a retail CBDC could address. The RBA needed direct public input on how well existing payment options were working, what people valued and trusted in money, and whether potential features of digital money could offer meaningful benefits.
Verian designed and delivered a large-scale qualitative consultation across Australia. The approach combined broad community consultation with targeted research involving under-represented groups.
Much of the consultation was conducted face to face, A major challenge for the consultation was that participants often struggled with concepts such as trust in cash, trust in government-issued money, unmet payment needs, and potential digital money. Many found these concepts abstract and initially had difficulty explaining their views. Face-to-face engagement helped facilitators to probe beneath initial responses, identify contradictions and trade-offs, use scenarios and activities to make abstract concepts tangible, and help participants unpack behaviours they normally take for granted.
Some consultation was also conducted online, including to extend reach into regional and remote Australia, and improve inclusivity. Accessibility and inclusion were built into the research design in several further ways. Verian engaged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by working with the Culturally Inclusive Research Centre Australia (CIRCA. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers from CIRCA recruited participants through their communities and ran three in-person yarning circles to capture feedback in a culturally safe way. The discussion guide was developed by Verian, co-designed with the RBA, and reviewed for cultural safety by CIRCA. Modified discussion guides were also used for focus groups with people with disability, ensuring all members of the community could participate in the consultation in a way comfortable to them.
The consultation explored people’s current payment behaviours and pain points, trust in cash and commercial bank accounts, experiences when digital payments are unavailable, and reactions to potential offline payments and a digital Australian dollar. Verian brought the evidence together in a public consultation report to support the RBA’s policy assessment.
The consultation gave the RBA direct evidence about Australians’ payment needs and views on a potential retail CBDC. In September 2026, the RBA and Treasury published an update concluding that Australia’s retail payment system is serving households and businesses well and that there is no clear public interest case for a retail CBDC at this time. The RBA stated that this assessment drew on the public consultation conducted by Verian Group, and published the independent Unmet Payment Needs and Digital Money report alongside its update.
RBA media release: RITS Consultation and Retail CBDC Update
RBA publication: Unmet Payment Needs and Digital Money