What to know
Bali is part of Indonesia, so the currency is the Indonesian rupiah (IDR). Cash is widely used; large rupiah numbers are normal, so a small amount of Australian dollars converts to a large rupiah figure.
In the year after Thailand floated the baht in July 1997, the rupiah lost much of its value against the US dollar. The International Monetary Fund records it depreciating about 30 per cent by early October 1997. By the end of July 1998 it had fallen roughly 65 per cent further, measured against its level at the close of 1997. No redenomination followed. Bank Indonesia’s notes still run to Rp100,000, and Indonesian prices have been quoted at that scale ever since.
Two things matter more to a visitor than the conversion itself. The first answers the question most people ask before they fly: Australian dollars are not spendable in Indonesia. The rupiah is not simply the usual currency there: it is the required one. Law No. 7 of 2011 on Currency, implemented by Bank Indonesia Regulation 17/3/PBI/2015, obliges individuals and companies to use rupiah for transactions inside Indonesia, cash and non-cash alike. The regulation also requires an Indonesian business to issue its price quotations in rupiah, and prohibits anyone from refusing a payment made in rupiah. A villa, driver or day tour priced in Australian or US dollars by an operator in Indonesia is quoting outside that rule. The conversion built into such a price is the operator’s own. A booking made through a platform based outside Indonesia is different. The regulation carves out cross-border supply of goods and services, so a foreign site may quote you in your own currency.
The second is the shape of the cash. Bank Indonesia’s 2022 series, released to mark Indonesia’s 77th independence anniversary, runs Rp1,000, Rp2,000, Rp5,000, Rp10,000, Rp20,000, Rp50,000 and Rp100,000. The largest single note is therefore Rp100,000. Bank Indonesia said at that release that notes and coins already in circulation stay legal tender alongside the new series. That is why a wallet in Bali often holds two designs of the same denomination. Older series are a different matter: Bank Indonesia revokes them, withdraws them from circulation and publishes the register of what it has withdrawn. A withdrawn note can still be exchanged for ten years from the withdrawal date. For the first five years any commercial bank will take it, and for the second five only a Bank Indonesia office will.
One charge sits outside all of the above because it is provincial rather than national. Bali levies Rp150,000 on each foreign tourist under Bali Provincial Regulation Number 2 of 2025, amending Regional Regulation Number 6 of 2023. It is paid online through the provincial government’s LoveBali portal, which returns a QR voucher as proof, and it applies to Bali alone rather than to the rest of Indonesia.
Heading off with a card? Read how to choose a travel money card - including why you should always pay in the local currency, not Australian dollars.
Working out what the trip costs? Put your daily spend and trip length through the travel budget calculator, or convert a single amount with the currency converter.