POSTPONED: APA-PANZ Joint Webinar on Trans-Tasman Migration

Please be advised that the upcoming event has been postponed until further notice.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding. We will provide an update with the new date and further details as soon as they are confirmed

The Australian Population Association and Population Association of New Zealand are excited to announce a joint webinar to be held on 15 October 2025. This webinar, to be co-hosted by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), will focus on Trans-Tasman migration between New Zealand and Australia. The webinar will be given by Jacques Poot (University of Waikato) and James Raymer (Australian National University).

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Trans-Tasman migration: perspectives from Aotearoa New Zealand

Jacques Poot, University of Waikato

Abstract

Trans-Tasman migration (TTM) has been part of relations between Australia and New Zealand since colonial times. The numbers of Australians in New Zealand and New Zealanders in Australia were roughly equal until the late 1960s and about 50,000 each at that time. Since then the numbers have diverged markedly. The 2026 Australian Census population count is likely to include around 600,000 New Zealand-born residents, while about 670,000 New Zealand citizens currently reside in Australia. By contrast, the 2023 New Zealand Census counted 83,322 Australian-born residents. Relative to destination-country population, however, the imbalance is smaller: New Zealanders comprise about 2.2% of Australia’s population, while Australians comprise about 1.7% of New Zealand’s.

These long-term trends are overlaid by a roughly decadal cycle and substantial “churn”, with return flows to New Zealand nearly as prominent as outflows. Political, media and research interest has been similarly cyclical. Taking an economic perspective, I consider whether TTM is best understood as largely unrestricted population redistribution within an Australasian labour market, resembling interregional migration; or as cross-border mobility comparable to Europe’s Schengen area; or as a distinctive form of international migration. I finish with considering how recent developments may shape Trans-Tasman migration in the coming decades.

About the speaker

Jacques Poot is Emeritus Professor of Population Economics at Te Ngira Institute for Population Research, and Honorary Professor of Economics, at the University of Waikato. Before joining Waikato in 2004, Jacques held academic positions at Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Tsukuba, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the New Zealand Association of Economists and a Life Member of the Population Association of New Zealand. His research covers migration, cultural diversity, labour and housing markets, regional development, forecasting, and meta-analysis.

The contributions of New Zealand immigration to demographic change across cities and regions in Australia

James Raymer, Australian National University

Abstract

Since 1973, the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement has allowed citizens of Australia and New Zealand to enter each other's country to visit, live and work, without visas or permission. In this presentation, the demographic contributions of New Zealand immigration to city and regional population change in Australia are described and analysed from 1981 to 2021. The focus is on the long-term demographic consequences of relatively high and sustained immigration across 11 geographic areas in Australia. The analyses use recently reconciled demographic component data for 18 overseas-born subgroups and the Australia-born population by age and sex. Over the 40-year period, it is estimated that New Zealand-born people contributed approximately 4.5 per cent of overall population growth in Australia, and 7.3 percent of overall growth in Brisbane. Across cities and regions, New Zealand immigrants also made sizeable contributions to other demographic processes, including births, deaths, and interregional migration. This research provides new insights into both period-specific and long-term demographic effects of New Zealand’s immigration streams across Australia’s cities and regions.

About the speaker

James Raymer is a Professor in the School of Demography at the Australian National University (ANU). After obtaining his PhD in Geography from the University of Colorado Boulder, he moved to England to work in the Division of Social Statistics at the University of Southampton. He joined ANU in 2013 as a Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Appointment in Demography. His research focuses on the study of spatial demographic processes and applying demographic models to predict migration patterns and population change. He is especially interested in how migration influences subnational population change.