Currency The Australian dollar represents the Australian economy and is the fifth most frequently traded currency in the world.
Until 1983, the Australian dollar had a fixed exchange rate, after which the Australian Labor government switched to a floating exchange rate. From 1946 to 1971, the Australian dollar was part of the Bretton Woods system, according to which, until 1967, it was pegged to the British pound (which had a fixed exchange rate to the US dollar and was pegged to gold). With the failure of the Bretton Woods system, the Australian dollar received a traditional peg to the floating exchange rate of the US dollar.