Regulatory Impact Statement - Revised Social Security Agreement with Australia

This Regulatory Impact Statement has been prepared by the Ministry of Social Development.

The 2001 Agreement on Social Security between the Government of New Zealand and the Government of Australia (the SSA) needs to be revised to update some provisions which are out of step with New Zealand and Australian legislation (eg New Zealand legislation concerning civil unions). There are also some errors and anomalies that need to be corrected. We are also responding to the forthcoming changes to the eligibility age for Australian Age Pension, which will result in the Australian Age pension age being two years higher than the New Zealand pension age.

This Regulatory Impact Statement provides an analysis of options to respond to disparity in pension ages which:

• will result in some Australian residents who have spent time in New Zealand receiving a state pension two years before other Australian residents
• may create an incentive for people to migrate to New Zealand to receive a pension earlier than they could otherwise in Australia.