Apparently no access to bank accounts (or online banking) - ATMs included. They were doing everything by hand in the bank branch. Outage has been several hours with no ETA for a resolution. It's a good lesson to always hold cash on hand even if you like to stack metals.
I suddenly feel the urge to withdraw a few thousand in 5 cent pieces and make sure they are counted individually for accuracy
You'd need to make an order if you wanted more than, say, $50 worth of 5 cent coins. Even if you didn't order them they'll either be in rolls or bags and weighed instead of counted. Not sure how widespread the outage is but a colleague said he the ATM was offline, and all the machines in the bank branch were down (different branch from the ATM). A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
and this - Is there a limit on the number of coins I can hand over to the shopkeeper in a store? Yes - The Currency Act stipulates the rules outlined in the table below. Denomination Quantity 1c & 2c Maximum of 20 cents 5c, 10c, 20c & 50c Maximum of $5 $1, $2, $5 & $10 Not exceeding ten times the face value, inclusive ie a maximum of $100 for $10 notes (10 x $10) Any other denomination To any value http://www.ramint.gov.au/faq/