NZ Super and the Australian Age Pension When You Move

Trans-Tasman moves are common at retirement age. New Zealand and Australia have a Social Security Agreement that lets your residence in one country count toward a pension in the other. The two systems differ: NZ Super is universal, the Australian Age Pension is means-tested, and which one pays you depends on where you live when you claim.

The NZ-Australia Social Security Agreement

The agreement does two main things. First, it lets you apply for certain NZ payments (paid by Work and Income) or Australian payments (paid by Centrelink) after you have moved. On the NZ side it covers NZ Super and the Veteran’s Pension; on the Australian side, the Age Pension and others.

Second — the part that matters most for split residence — it lets you add together your periods of residence in either country to meet the residence criteria. Time spent in Australia can help you qualify for NZ Super, and time in NZ can help you qualify for the Australian Age Pension. Whether you are paid by Work and Income or Centrelink generally depends on which country you live in when you claim; the host country usually pays.

Being paid NZ Super while living in Australia

If you are already receiving NZ Super and you move to Australia, your payment continues at the same rate for up to 26 weeks after you leave New Zealand. That window gives you time to settle and lodge the right applications.

To keep being paid beyond 26 weeks, you must:

• be ordinarily resident in Australia (or have been physically present for at least 26 weeks, or intend to remain for at least a year)
• apply for the Australian Age Pension from Centrelink and be entitled to a rate above $0
• have lived in New Zealand for at least 1 year continuously since age 20

Once you are settled in Australia, your NZ Super becomes a proportional (prorated) amount, based on the months you were ordinarily resident in NZ between age 20 and 65, out of a possible 540 months (45 years). A full NZ working life gets close to the full proportion; half a working life gets roughly half. The amount is capped so it cannot exceed the Australian Age Pension you would otherwise receive. Work and Income’s International Services team calculates the exact figure case by case.

For what happens to your retirement savings, see moving KiwiSaver to Australian super.

Australian Age Pension: residence and means tests

The Australian Age Pension is reached at age 67. To qualify you must meet a residence rule and pass means testing.

Residence. You generally need to have been an Australian resident for at least 10 years in total, with at least 5 of those years in one continuous block. New Zealand citizens living in Australia on a protected Special Category visa are treated as Australian residents for this rule. Crucially, if you have lived or worked in an agreement country — New Zealand included — that residence can help you meet the 10-year requirement.

Means testing. Unlike NZ Super, the Age Pension applies both an income test and an assets test, and Centrelink pays whichever produces the lower amount. A retiree with substantial savings or investment income may receive a reduced Age Pension or none at all — a sharp contrast with NZ Super, which pays the same gross amount regardless of wealth.

The 10-years-NZ-residence rule and how it interacts

NZ Super has its own residence test, and the agreement does not remove it — it just lets Australian time count toward it. To qualify for NZ Super you must have lived in NZ for a set number of years since age 20, with at least 5 of those years since age 50. The number of years is no longer a flat 10: under the Fair Residency Amendment Act 2021 it steps up with your date of birth, reaching 11 years in 2026 and eventually 20 years by 2042. Full detail is in our NZ Super eligibility and residency rules guide.

To use Australian residence toward this NZ test, your Australian time must generally total at least 12 months between age 20 and 67, of which at least 6 months were continuous. Centrelink verifies the Australian portion of your history.

Worked example

Hana moved to Brisbane at 60 after 30 years in NZ. She had lived in New Zealand continuously from age 30 to 60 — 30 years of residence since age 20, comfortably clearing both the years-since-20 test and the 5-years-since-50 test.

At 65 she could not claim NZ Super in NZ because she was no longer ordinarily resident there. Having built her NZ residence before leaving, her path was to wait until Australian Age Pension age (67) and claim through the agreement; her NZ time counted toward the Australian 10-year residence rule, which she met easily.

Centrelink assessed her under the income and assets tests. Her NZ Super entitlement was worked out proportionally — roughly 30 of the 45 possible years (about 360 of 540 months) of NZ residence between 20 and 65 — capped at the Age Pension rate she would otherwise receive. With modest assets, the means test still allowed a partial Age Pension on top. The combined result was less than a full NZ Super would have been, but far more than zero — exactly what the agreement is designed to deliver. The mirror case also works: someone who built NZ residence then returns from Australia can claim NZ Super in NZ, using Australian time to top up the residence test if needed.

Before you move

These rules reward planning. Contact Work and Income’s International Services team before you leave NZ, travel on your NZ or Australian passport, and keep records of your residence in both countries. The 26-week and 12-month application deadlines are strict — miss them and you may have to repay benefits.

For a fuller checklist on relocating, see our moving to Australia from NZ hub, and estimate your NZ Super position with the NZ Super calculator.