Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement

The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement is an arrangement between Australia and New Zealand which allows for the free movement of citizens of one of these countries to the other. The arrangement came into effect in 1973, and allows citizens of each country to live and work in the other country, with some restrictions. Other details of the arrangement have varied over time. From 1 July 1981, all people entering Australia (including New Zealand citizens) have been required to carry a passport. Since 1 September 1994 Australia has had a universal visa requirement, and to specifically cater for the continued free movement of New Zealanders to Australia the Special Category Visa was introduced for New Zealanders.

The arrangement was announced on 4 February 1973 and came into effect soon after. The arrangement is not expressed in the form of any binding bilateral treaty between Australia and New Zealand, but rather is a series of immigration procedures applied by each country and underpinned by joint political support. Although the exact nature of the arrangement has been varied from time to time, it still allows citizens of Australia or New Zealand to live in the other country indefinitely and take on most employment. New Zealand citizens who are not also Australian citizens may not work in Australia in areas involving national security or in the Australian Public Service. The arrangement itself is linked to and grounded by a system of other agreements and treaties such as the New Zealand Australia Free Trade Agreement (1966), Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (1983), Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement (1998), various Social Security agreements between Australia and New Zealand (1994, 1995, 1998 and 2002), Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (2006), SmartGate (2007) and Trans-Tasman Patent Attorney Regime (2013).

Prior to 1973, neither New Zealand nor Australia exercised systematic control over immigration from the main Commonwealth countries (principally the United Kingdom and Canada), and New Zealanders and Australians were thus free to move between each country under informal arrangements.

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