Moving to Australia from New Zealand: a guide for OTs, speech-language therapists and physios

If you’re a New Zealand citizen, there’s no visa to apply for: you’re granted a Special Category visa (subclass 444) when you arrive, and it lets you live and work in Australia for as long as you remain an NZ citizen. What actually sets your start date is the professional step: OTs and physios with a current NZ practising certificate use Trans-Tasman mutual recognition, and speech-language therapists use Speech Pathology Australia’s MRA (A$825; SPA aims for up to seven weeks from a complete application). After that, the things worth planning are Medicare enrolment, your KiwiSaver, any student loan, and an honest look at pay.

This page covers the move. For your profession’s route in detail, go to the NZ OT guide or the NZ speech-language therapist guide.

No visa, so what’s the real bottleneck?

For most Kiwi clinicians, it’s the professional step, not immigration. There’s no visa wait: once Ahpra (OTs and physios) or SPA (speech) has said yes, you can start as soon as you arrive. Get that moving while you’re still in your NZ job.

The practical upshot for OTs and physios: keep your NZ practising certificate current until your Australian registration comes through. Letting it lapse to save a renewal fee can close the simplest door you have. For speech-language therapists, the equivalent is your full NZSTA membership: the MRA needs it, plus NZSTA’s letter of good standing, when you apply.

Speech pathologists in Australia aren’t registered with Ahpra. SPA says you need to be eligible for its Certified Practising membership to work in most Australian organisations, and it strongly discourages travelling to Australia to work before your assessment is complete. That holds even though you don’t need a visa.

Not an NZ citizen? The Special Category visa is for NZ citizens. If you live and work in NZ on residence or a work visa, you’ll need an Australian visa, so speak to a registered migration agent and check Home Affairs.

Citizenship: the four-year pathway

General information only. A registered migration agent or Home Affairs can confirm your situation.

From 1 July 2023, NZ citizens who hold a (non-protected) Special Category visa, arrived after 26 February 2001 and have lived in Australia for at least four years can apply for Australian citizenship without becoming a permanent resident first. Other criteria, such as residence and character, still apply, and it doesn’t cover applications made before 1 July 2023. If you’re thinking of staying long term, start counting from the day you arrive.

Medicare: you can enrol, but not straight away for everyone

NZ citizens who live in Australia can enrol in Medicare if they:

• will live here for six months or more, or
• have lived here for six months or more in the last 12 months, or
• live here and have applied for permanent residency.

You can enrol any time in the six months after you first arrive. Before you enrol, you’re treated as a visitor under the reciprocal agreement, which gives essential public hospital treatment. If you’re moving for a job, enrol early rather than waiting until you need a GP.

KiwiSaver: you can bring it, but you don’t have to

If you move permanently to Australia, you can transfer your KiwiSaver savings into Australian super. It’s your choice. The ATO’s rules:

• It’s the whole balance or nothing.
• You need an Australian tax file number.
• The receiving fund must be an APRA-regulated complying fund that accepts transfers. A self-managed super fund can’t take it.
• The NZ-sourced amount counts as a non-concessional contribution, so the cap applies.
• The transfer itself isn’t taxed.
• The NZ-sourced part can be accessed at NZ retirement age (currently 65). Australian-sourced super is generally accessible at 60 or over on retirement.

Note that KiwiSaver’s 12-month emigration withdrawal applies to people moving to other countries, not to Australia. This is general information, not financial advice; talk to a licensed adviser before you move anything.

Once you start work, your employer pays superannuation (retirement savings) on top of your salary, at 12% of ordinary time earnings.

Your NZ student loan stops being interest-free

Inland Revenue treats you as an overseas-based borrower once you’re in NZ for 31 days or fewer in any 184-day period. From the day after you leave, the loan stops being interest-free (some exemptions apply). Overseas repayments are based on your loan balance, not your income, and are due on 31 March. If you need breathing room, you can apply for a repayment suspension of up to 12 months, which needs an alternative contact person. Sort this out with IRD before you go, not after the first bill.

Driving, and pets

Driving: an NZ car (class C) or motorcycle (RE or R) licence, held now or in the last five years, transfers in Queensland without a road rules test or practical driving test. NZ heavy vehicle licences need the heavy vehicle road rules test but no practical test. Queensland’s three-month deadline to switch applies to permanent (resident) visa holders and Australian citizens, so ask Transport and Main Roads how it applies to you on a Special Category visa.

Pets: this is the easy one. New Zealand is a Group 1 country, so cats and dogs that meet the standard conditions need no import permit and no quarantine. Your pet needs a veterinary health certificate from a vet at an MPI-listed practice and is cleared where it first lands in Australia. If it has ever lived outside NZ or Australia, it must have lived only in NZ for at least 180 days before export. The Department of Agriculture’s NZ guide has the steps.

Pay: Health NZ vs Queensland Health

Converted at the RBA rate of NZ$1.2335 to A$1 on 27 October 2026:

Physios: across Australia, the median for full-time physios is A$1,710 a week before tax (Jobs and Skills Australia, May 2023 data). For your grade, check Queensland Health’s wage rates page.

The NZ figures come from Health NZ adverts. The speech-language therapist and physio steps (the physio advert closed in April 2025) predate the allied health increases (2.5% from December 2025, a further 2% due December 2026), and it isn’t clear whether the OT range includes them. Even so, the gap is real. Pay isn’t the only thing that changes, though: rent, school fees and distance from whānau all go into the sum. The OT salary comparison has a worked take-home example.

What changes in the work

• Titles: speech-language therapists work as “speech pathologists” here.
• Funding: if you’ll be working with NDIS-funded clients, ask any employer how they’ll support you through your first NDIS reports.
• Choice: no sponsor means you can choose an employer purely on fit: supervision, caseload and team.

Where I come in

I’ve sat on the hiring side with recruiters and locums. Today I run a multi-site paediatric allied health practice in South East Queensland, and several of our clinicians came to us from overseas. Because you don’t need sponsorship, the question I’d help you answer isn’t “who will take me?” but “who’s worth working for?”. If you’re looking at Brisbane, the Brisbane and SEQ guide is a good next read.

Your next step

• OTs: check your OTBNZ practising certificate is current and won’t lapse before Ahpra decides.
• Physios: the same check for your NZ physiotherapy practising certificate.
• Speech-language therapists: check your NZSTA membership, your graduation year (1993 or later) and your hours in the last five years.

The pathway check asks those questions and tells you whether you’re ready to book a call with me or have something to sort first.