Note Printing Australia (NPA) congratulates the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) on winning the International Association of Currency Affairs’ (IACA) 2026 Excellence in Currency Award for Best New Limited Circulation / Commemorative Banknote, announced at the IACA Banknote Conference awards event in Washington, DC.
NPA’s well-established Apprenticeship Program (currently training six apprentices in Print Hall and three apprentices in Pre-Production) has received a significant boost in capability with the opening of the GTO Training Room, an on-site training facility that enables print apprentices to learn their craft on a Heidelberg GTO 52 lithographic press.
Reserve Bank of Vanuatu (RBV) Governor August Letlet and his delegation from the central bank were warmly welcomed into the NPA family this week when the Governor signed a Long-Term Supply Agreement with Note Printing Australia. A Signing Ceremony took place with more than 100 staff in attendance. In addition to the signing of the documents, NPA CEO Malcolm McDowell presented the Governor with a framed engraved plate to commemorate the occasion.
Bank of Papua New Guinea staged a highly successful Commemorative Currency Launch event at the Stanley Hotel which was attended by a broad cross-section of PNG’s political, business and cultural community. NPA CEO Malcolm McDowell attended the event, as did Royal Australian Mint Acting CEO Emily Martin, whose organisations delivered the Commemorative 50 Kina banknote and Commemorative 50 Toea coin respectively.
NPA staff are a passionate and committed group that take great pride in the quality of their work. A purchase program organised by NPA in which staff can buy mint condition banknotes from a central bank customer and then have those notes framed with a special plaque is one of the many benefits in working at NPA.
Note Printing Australia’s safety culture was independently assessed by Ernst & Young, with the finding that NPA’s safety culture is ‘advanced’ in terms of safety culture and operational integration across each of the five areas that were audited, and unusually in EY’s experience, there is a very strong understanding and ownership of safety consistently across the business.
