Data from the Department of Home Affairs reveals that over 92,000 New Zealand citizens applied for Australian citizenship between July 2023 and June 2025.

The year 2024 saw 30,000 New Zealanders making the move to Australia, marking the highest influx in more than ten years.

However, the Nerang Neighbourhood Centre, which assists New Zealanders in Australia, reports a surge in individuals seeking their assistance for a ‘last resort’ flight back home.

But Nerang Neighbourhood Centre, which supports New Zealanders in Australia, says more people than ever are taking up its offer of a ‘last resort’ flight home. 

‘Increasingly with our New Zealand cohort, the only option is going back to New Zealand, more often than not,’ general manager Vicky Rose told 1News on Tuesday.

‘It came about from a need at the end of the day. 

‘The economic climate here is just getting worse, we’re having the conversation a couple of times a week. I dare say we’re sending a couple back a month.

‘It scares me the amount of numbers that are coming out of New Zealand, at the moment, to Australia. I just hope they’ve done their research.’

Vicky Rose – the general manager of Nerang Neighbourhood Centre – has said more New Zealanders are taking up their offer of a ‘last resort’ return flight home

The charity, based on the Gold Coast, said Australia’s economic climate is getting worse

New Zealander Dave Porter (pictured) said he has lived in Australia for a decade and a half has said the country has become ‘way too expensive’

The centre has been providing the return flights to New Zealand for 10 years.

New Zealander Dave Porter has been living in Australia for 16 years but is now struggling with the brutal cost of living on the Gold Coast.

‘We’ve tried everything. I was working up until about four or five months ago, and I got an injury and I couldn’t work,’ he told 1News.

He had been living at a caravan park but the owner sold it, adding: ‘The new people that bought it just basically turfed us.’

But Mr Porter said he would rather stay in Australia than return to New Zealand.

New Zealand citizens can travel to and from Australia freely and live Down Under indefinitely with a Special Category Visa (SCV).

The SCV is considered ‘demand driven’ and as such, the Australian government does not cap the number available. Nearly all New Zealand citizens are eligible for SCVs on arrival, subject to certain character requirements.

A spokesperson for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade urged citizens who are struggling in Australia to contact the consulate. 

Nerang Neighbourhood Centre has been providing ‘all-expenses-paid’ flights back to New Zealand for a decade (a Qantas plane is pictured)

‘We are aware that circumstances can change quickly for New Zealanders living in Australia, and some may wish to return home,’ they told Daily Mail. 

‘In that context, we are aware of some support that is available to help with this.

‘Any New Zealand citizens in Queensland in need of consular support should reach out to the New Zealand Consulate-General in Sydney.’