Should Australia become a cashless society?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right: A March 5, 2021, Sky News televised a report suggesting that Australia could become a cashless society by as soon as 2024.What they said...
'An environment in which we are asked to sanitise our hands in every shop is obviously not conducive to handling cash'
Alan Shields, Chief Operating Officer at business intelligence firm RFi Group
'As payments move online, there would be an increased risk of crimes such as identity theft, account takeover, fraudulent transactions, and data breaches'
Dr Richard Harmon, managing director of financial services at data cloud firm Cloudera
The issue at a glance
On November 18, 2021, ABC News televised a statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia that large numbers of Australians have begun hoarding cash, in part as a response to the uncertainties of the global pandemic and in part because it has been predicted that Australia is likely to have become a largely cashless society by 2031. 
Some predictions have set the date of that development as early as 2024.
There is an accelerating trend toward the use of cashless transactions in most if not all areas of Australian life. This trend is being welcomed by many Australians. At the same time this hoarding behaviour suggests there are many who still value physical cash and who do not trust the prospect of a completely or largely cashless society.
Some social commentators claim there is a need for thoughtful debate on the advantages and disadvantages of the move toward cashlessness across the world.