More than 120 Kiwis a day are ditching New Zealand to move to Australia: Here's why they've had enough

New Zealand suffered a net migration loss of 27,000 people to Australia in 2023, the highest number for a decade.

More than 44,500 Kiwis sought to escape the post-pandemic economic downturn, compared with 17,500 Australians heading the other way.

While the number of Australians heading to NZ was roughly steady since 2021, the number of Kiwis in the departure lounges is spiking.

Not since 2013 have so many NZ citizens sought to make Australia their home.

In recent decades, NZ has generally experienced a loss of citizens to Australia each year.

The exception was in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, when border settings resulted in a net migration gain with Australia.

The gains are attributed to the go-home factor during COVID and favourable NZ living and economic conditions through the pandemic.

However, the restoration of business-as-usual border settings and an slumping economy has pushed Kiwis to the exit door.

From a net trans-Tasman migration gain of 7500 in 2020, NZ lost 5500 citizens in 2021, 14500 in 2022 and now 17500 in 2023.

New Zealanders are able to live and work in Australia, and vice versa, through specially-created visas.

Recent Australian policy shifts have sweetened the offer for would-be Kiwi migrants.

In 2023, Australia improved the path to citizenship for migrating Kiwis, allowing them to apply after four years of residency.

Citizenship brings a raft of benefits, including a social security safety net, access to student loans and to work a range of public service and defence roles set aside only for Australians.

Australian employers seeking workers in key industries - including policing and nursing - have also invested in campaigns to lure workers, including sign-on bonuses and covering moving costs.

The growing number of Kiwis choosing to up sticks for Australia comes as NZ radically lifts its population through migration from other countries.

It has been welcoming more than 10,000 migrants every month since the start of 2023 in a record boom, primarily to fill skills shortages.

Migrants from India lead the way, with 51,000 arriving in 2023, along with many from Philippines (36,000), China (26,900) and Fiji (11,100).

Kiwis leaving for Australia in 2023 skewed slightly younger and more overseas-born than the general population.

More than one-third (36 per cent) of trans-Tasman migrants were born overseas (27 per cent of the general population), with 52 per cent than half aged 20-39.

The record single calendar year brain drain - or brain gain for Australia - was 2011, when a net 43,000 left: more than one per cent of the population.

Why a hardworking Kiwi couple decided to ditch New Zealand to live in Australia 

New Zealand couple Tim and Eva Mitchell are in the midst of a year-long trip around the world, but the adventurous Kiwi couple say the only thing that made it possible was leaving their homeland to live in Australia.

In 2019, the pair followed the path of thousands of Kiwis across the Tasman in search of higher wages and more career opportunities.

After only 16 months of living in Melbourne, where Eva, 28, worked as an IVF pharmacist and Tim, 33, worked for the same engineering company that employed him in New Zealand, the pair had saved enough to fund a year travelling overseas.

'If we stayed in New Zealand, we probably wouldn’t be able to travel - we couldn’t have saved enough,' Eva told Daily Mail Australia from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

'Everyone is struggling all over the world, but in New Zealand, I think they are lagging behind.' 

Better money for Kiwis who move to Australia 

She said by moving to Australia, the pair pulled in 30 per cent higher wages than at home, plus they found there were many other financial advantages, such as tax deductions for job expenses that just didn't exist in New Zealand.

In their Make Cents of Travel blog Eva writes that the couple 'knew that moving to Australia would mean we would be able to save more money AND save money faster than if we stayed in NZ, solely by securing higher paying jobs'.

'What we didn’t realise was the many other ways that living in Australia would present to facilitate our savings goals, starting with having to pay less income tax,' she writes.

'An average Australian full-time salary of $95k requires you to pay roughly $21,300 income tax per year.

'In New Zealand, on the same salary (if you can find a job that pays the equivalent), you would be required to pay around $23,200 in income tax per year.'

However, that wasn't even the best bit.

'In Australia, you are entitled to claim tax back on a variety of work expenses,' she said.

'These include professional fees, working from home costs, work tools, conference costs, work clothing and so much more.

'At the end of the day, we found that Australia not only pays better; it lets you keep more of what you earn.'

Eva recalled when the pair moved to Australia 'everyone was saying make sure you claim your tax back'.

'As far as we were aware we were never able to claim back the same expenses in New Zealand, not in normal jobs, perhaps if you had a business,' she said. 

'The grass certainly is greener!'

More career opportunities  

Both Eva and Tim enjoyed career opportunities in Australia they would not have in New Zealand.

Eva went from being a pharmacist at a public hospital in Christchurch to working for a private IVF clinic and a private-sector pharmacy job that she said did not exist in New Zealand.

'With my new job came a pay rise, bonuses and a small team where I felt valued,' she wrote in the blog.

Even if she had gone back into public sector pharmacy, the pay rise in Australia would have been substantial.

Despite working for the same company, Tim also got 'a significant pay increase to transfer to Australia', which would have taken 'years' to obtain in New Zealand.

'Shortly after moving to Australia, Tim was able to secure a higher authority role, which is testament to the career progression opportunities Australian companies can provide for NZ professionals looking to relocate to Australia,' Eva wrote.

'On top of a pay rise, Tim's transfer agreement provided us both with flights to Melbourne, and a month of free accommodation in an apartment in the Melbourne CBD until we could secure our own rental property. Not a bad deal if I say so myself!'

Better work life balance  

As if being paid more wasn't enough, Tim and Eva discovered Australians work shorter hours than Kiwis and that supermarkets are cheaper.

'The standard New Zealand working week is 40 hours (as opposed to 38 in Australia), so over the space of a whole year, it is about 100 hours difference,' Eva commented.

'It doesn't seem like much, two hours a week, but it is, and we found it convenient because it gives you time to pop into the banks when they are open.'

She also said that in Victoria offers 'seasonal cashbacks on dining out, activities and electricity bills to all residents'.

'Thanks to these cashback schemes, we were reimbursed hundreds of dollars during our time spent living in Melbourne,' she writes.

Eva and Tim also liked living in Melbourne, which has a population around four times the number of New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland.

'If we wanted to anything close to Melbourne's size the only option is Auckland but obviously it’s pretty expensive to be there,' Eva said.

'It is probably on a par with Melbourne, but in Melbourne you get better wages.

'You just don’t get the same opportunities. There is always something to do in Melbourne - there are always events on.'

After a 10-month sojourn in Europe, the couple plan to have two more months in south-east Asia before heading home, which is now no longer in New Zealand.

'I can’t see us going back to New Zealand,' Eva said.

'Pay is a big issue. If we could get the same pay we might go back but we are still missing out on the city lifestyle.'

Eva said she and Tim occasionally felt bad about leaving New Zealand. 

'We do feel guilty for leaving, we do miss our celebrations back home so we feel guilty for missing out on that,' she said.

However, in most other respects they were happy to be expats. 

Eva said they would not have 'deserted' their country if they 'could have looked out for us'.

'Australia has given us opportunities we just wouldn’t have in New Zealand,' she said.

'People can call us unpatriotic but we’ve just got to do what’s best for us.'