Historical Background
The New Zealand-born continue to make up the second largest overseas-born group in Australia after the United Kingdom-born.
Since colonial times, there have been close links between the two countries and from 1828 until 1840 New Zealand was under the jurisdiction of the Governor of New South Wales.
Movement between the two countries has also been significant, the direction depending on the economic situation in each country. During the gold rushes of the 1860s in New Zealand for example, more Australians moved to New Zealand than vice versa. This trend continued for the next century.
The 1881 Censuses, both of Australia and of New Zealand, revealed that there were 16 100 Australians living in New Zealand compared with only 6800 New Zealanders living in Australia. This net gain in favour of New Zealand continued until the 1950s.
In the ensuing decades and particularly during the 1960s there was a dramatic shift. By the 1971 Australian Census, the number of New Zealand-born living in Australia had jumped to 80 466 and by 1981 this number had more than doubled to 176 713.
At that stage, this was more than three times the recorded number of Australians living in New Zealand (52 600). By 1991, the number of New Zealand-born living in Australia had increased by a further 100 000 to 276 070. The most significant gain for Australia (136 000 New Zealand-born) occurred in the ten years between 1974 and 1984.
According to the 2011 Census, New Zealanders of Maori descent make up around 12 per cent of Australia's New Zealand-born population.
Today
Geographic Distribution
The latest Census in 2011 recorded 483 398 New Zealand-born people in Australia, an increase of 24.1 per cent from the 2006 Census. The 2011 distribution by state and territory showed Queensland had the largest number with 192 037 followed by New South Wales (114 231), Victoria (80 235) and Western Australia (70 735).
Age and Sex
The median age of the New Zealand-born in 2011 was 40 years compared with 45 years for all overseas-born and 37 years for the total Australian population.
The age distribution showed 10.3 per cent were aged 0-14 years, 12.2 per cent were 15-24 years, 36.9 per cent were 25-44 years, 32 per cent were 45-64 years and 8.6 per cent were 65 years and over.
Of the New Zealand-born in Australia, there were 245 090 males (50.7 per cent) and 238 306 females (49.3 per cent). The sex ratio was 102.8 males per 100 females.
Ancestry
In the 2011 Census, the top ancestry responses* that New Zealand-born people reported were English (222 956), New Zealander (86 724), Scottish (83 156) and Maori (82 577).
In the 2011 Census, Australians reported around 300 different ancestries. Of the total ancestry responses*, 187 212 responses were towards New Zealander ancestry.
*At the 2011 Census up to two responses per person were allowed for the Ancestry question; therefore providing the total responses and not persons count.
Language
The main languages spoken at home by New Zealand-born people in Australia were English (440 649), Samoan (11 931) and Maori (New Zealand) (8067).
Of the 42 749 New Zealand-born who spoke a language other than English at home, 88.5 per cent spoke English very well or well, and 3.6 per cent spoke English not well or not at all.
Religion
At the 2011 Census the major religious affiliations amongst New Zealand-born were Anglican (75 828), Catholic (73 149) and Presbyterian and Reformed (35 099).
Of the New Zealand-born, 34.6 per cent stated 'No Religion' which was higher than that of the total Australian population (22.3 per cent), and 6.1 per cent did not state a religion.
Arrival
Compared to 62 per cent of the total overseas-born population, 57 per cent of the New Zealand-born people in Australia arrived in Australia prior to 2001.
Among the total New Zealand-born in Australia at the 2011 Census, 16.3 per cent arrived between 2001 and 2006 and 21 per cent arrived between 2007 and 2011.
Median Income
At the time of the 2011 Census, the median individual weekly income for the New Zealand-born in Australia aged 15 years and over was $760, compared with $538 for all overseas-born and $597 for all Australia born. The total Australian population had a median individual weekly income of $577.
Qualifications
At the 2011 Census, 53.2 per cent of the New Zealand-born aged 15 years and over had some form of higher non-school qualifications compared to 55.9 per cent of the Australian population.
Of the New Zealand-born aged 15 years and over, 5.2 per cent were still attending an educational institution. The corresponding rate for the total Australian population was 8.6 per cent.
Employment
Among New Zealand-born people aged 15 years and over, the participation rate in the labour force was 76.7 per cent and the unemployment rate was 5.9 per cent. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population were 65 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively.
Of the 309 328 New Zealand-born who were employed, 43.9 per cent were employed in either a skilled managerial, professional or trade occupation. The corresponding rate in the total Australian population was 48.4 per cent.
Produced by the Community Relations Section of DIAC All data used in this summary is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing. Sources for the Historical Background are available on our website.
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