The Trans-Tasman Retirement Savings Portability scheme, introduced on 1 July 2013, allows individuals to move their retirement savings between New Zealand and Australia.
However, Trustees transferring funds from a New Zealand KiwiSaver scheme are only permitted to deposit those savings into a superannuation fund regulated by APRA.
The ATO provides further guidance, noting that if individuals wish to transfer their benefits from a KiwiSaver scheme to Australia, they can do so by completing a payment statement available here:
Since only a limited number of APRA-regulated funds accept transfers from KiwiSaver schemes, Trustees should confirm with their chosen retail or industry fund before completing the payment statement.
Once the funds are received by an APRA-regulated super fund, they are classified as a KiwiSaver component and are maintained separately from any Australian-sourced superannuation balance. This component cannot be transferred to an SMSF; it can generally only be transferred to another APRA-regulated fund that accepts KiwiSaver rollovers or returned to a New Zealand KiwiSaver scheme.
We provide further explanation of the rollover process here.