Currency Press was founded by Katharine Brisbane, then national theatre critic for The Australian, and her husband Philip Parsons, a lecturer in Drama at UNSW who worked passionately to bridge the gap between the university and the profession. After Philip’s death in 1993, Katharine remained at the helm of the company until she retired as Publisher in December 2001 in order to devote her energies to Currency House , a non-profit association dedicated to stimulating, enriching and advancing the quality and enjoyment of the Australian performing arts.

The company began in 1971 as a play publishing service but its scope has broadened well beyond that. Currency is Australia's only specialist performing arts publisher and its oldest independent publisher still active. Our list includes plays and screenplays, professional handbooks, biographies, cultural histories, critical studies and reference works. Currency Press: A Brief History has more detail about the company's origins and scope.

Today Currency is managed by Deborah Franco (Acting Publisher / Marketing Manager). Working alongside her are Paul O'Beirne (Senior Editor / Production Manager), Sian Jenkins (Financial Administrator), Toby Leon (Digital Project Manager), Erin Dewar (Communications Coordinator) and Sadaf Kohistani (Office Assistant).

Currency’s Chairman, Nick Parsons, son of founders Katharine Brisbane and Philip Parsons, combines a career as a writer and director with responsibility for Currency’s Screen Publishing list.