New Zealand Travel Insurance for Australian Travellers
New Zealand is the closest international trip most Australians will ever take — and the one most often taken without cover. Go Insurance provides New Zealand travel insurance built around how Australians actually travel there: road trips, ski weeks, Great Walks, cruise sailings and long weekends in Queenstown. Comprehensive, budget and student options, tailored during your quote.
Cover is subject to the PDS, including its limits, conditions and exclusions. When you quote, New Zealand sits inside the South Pacific region of travel — or you can select New Zealand on its own, which can work out a better premium for a NZ-only trip.
New Zealand Cover at a Glance
Three Hours Away — and Still a Long Way From Medicare
New Zealand feels like an extension of home. Same side of the road, same language, same power points, a flight shorter than Sydney to Perth. Australians cross the Tasman for a long weekend in Auckland, a week driving the South Island, a season pass at Coronet Peak, a Milford Sound cruise or a walk on the Franz Josef glacier — and because it all feels so familiar, New Zealand is the destination Australians are most likely to travel to uninsured.
That familiarity is exactly where the risk hides. New Zealand has two safety nets that partly apply to Australians — the reciprocal health care agreement and the ACC accident scheme — and both are widely misunderstood. Neither one pays for an ambulance, a medical flight back to Australia, a cancelled trip, stolen luggage or a damaged rental car. New Zealand also happens to be the adventure capital of the world, with a landscape built for helicopters, alpine roads and remote valleys, which is precisely the kind of terrain where an evacuation gets expensive. Go Insurance covers the gaps those schemes leave: overseas medical expenses, emergency repatriation home, cancellation of your prepaid bookings, and 24/7 emergency assistance wherever you are between Cape Reinga and Bluff.
What Your New Zealand Cover Can Include
A Go Insurance policy for New Zealand can provide benefits across the events that most commonly derail a Kiwi trip, subject to the limits, conditions and exclusions in the PDS.
Which Level of Cover Suits Your Trip?
Go Insurance lets you select exactly what’s covered, so you get the protection you want at a cost that suits your trip.
South Pacific Region, or New Zealand on Its Own?
New Zealand sits inside the South Pacific region of travel, alongside Fiji, the Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa and the rest of the Pacific. If your trip takes in more than one Pacific destination — a Fiji stopover on the way, say — selecting South Pacific as your region keeps the whole itinerary inside one selection.
If you’re only going to New Zealand, you can select New Zealand on its own instead of the whole region, and that can work out a better premium. It takes seconds to compare both in the quote engine before you buy — just make sure every destination you’ll actually set foot in is inside your final selection.
Sailing to New Zealand rather than flying? An ocean cruise needs the Cruise option selected in addition to your destinations, and a sailing that departs Sydney or Brisbane will pass through Australian waters on the way — check your selection covers the full route. See our cruise cover for what’s included on board.
What ACC and the Reciprocal Agreement Actually Cover
Australia and New Zealand have a reciprocal health care agreement. It gives Australians on a temporary visit access to immediately necessary care in the New Zealand public system — public hospital treatment, maternity services and subsidised pharmaceuticals. It does not cover GP and primary care visits, the full cost of medicines a GP prescribes, or ambulance travel. Australian visitors are not entitled to publicly funded emergency ambulance transport in New Zealand, and in a country where an accident often happens a long way from the nearest hospital, that’s the gap that bites first.
ACC is New Zealand’s no-fault accident scheme, and it does cover visitors. If you’re injured in an accident in New Zealand, ACC can help with treatment and rehabilitation costs — while you are in New Zealand. It does not cover illness. It does not cover cancelled flights, delays, missed connections or lost luggage. It does not pay to get you home to Australia, and it stops entirely once you leave the country, so ongoing treatment and time off work back in Australia are yours to fund. ACC also replaces your right to sue for personal injury in New Zealand.
Between them, the two schemes leave real gaps: private treatment, ambulances, medical evacuation home, prepaid bookings, luggage and rental vehicle excess. That’s the space travel insurance fills.
More of New Zealand Is Automatically Covered Than You’d Think
Queenstown didn’t invent commercial bungy jumping by accident. New Zealand is built for the kind of activities other insurers quietly exclude — and a good number of them sit on our automatically covered activity list as standard, with conditions.
Planning something not on the list, a higher-risk version of an activity, or a multi-day guided expedition? Contact us before you buy. We may be able to cover it, but only if it’s declared and we agree in writing.
Two Things Australians Forget to Add
Snow sports. Skiing and snowboarding are not covered as standard — Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona, Treble Cone, Mt Hutt and Ruapehu all need the Snow Sports extension selected during your quote and shown on your Certificate of Insurance. It can’t be added after you buy, so sort it when you book the season pass, not when you land in Queenstown.
The rental car. Driving is how most Australians see New Zealand, and the driving is genuinely different from home — narrow, winding, single-lane bridges, unsealed side roads, alpine passes that close in winter, and journey times that look nothing like the map. Rental vehicle excess cover is available on Go Plus and Go Elite and can reimburse the excess if your hire car is damaged or stolen, subject to the PDS.
Heading out on the water instead? Kayaking and surfing are on the standard list, but check our water sports cover if you’re diving the Poor Knights or doing anything more serious.
How to Get Covered for New Zealand
Getting New Zealand travel insurance with Go Insurance takes a few minutes — here’s how it works.
Get a Quote
Start your quote at goinsurance.com.au and select New Zealand as your destination — or the South Pacific region of travel if you’re adding a Pacific stopover.
Choose Your Cover Level
Select comprehensive, budget or student cover, and declare any pre-existing medical conditions so your cover is valid when you need it.
Add Your Extras
Skiing? Add the Snow Sports extension. Cruising? Add the Cruise option. Anything unusual planned? Declare it now — extras can’t be added after purchase.
Confirm & Travel
Check your Certificate of Insurance shows everything you selected, save our 24/7 emergency assistance number, and enjoy New Zealand.
Things to Know Before You Travel
Like all travel insurance, cover for New Zealand has limits, conditions and exclusions. Key things to be aware of:
Your New Zealand Pre-Travel Checklist
New Zealand Travel Insurance — Frequently Asked Questions
Everything Australian travellers commonly ask about travel insurance for New Zealand.
Do Australians need travel insurance for New Zealand?
It isn’t compulsory, but it’s strongly recommended — and New Zealand is the destination Australians most often travel to without it. The reciprocal health care agreement and ACC cover some medical costs while you’re in the country, but neither pays for an ambulance, private treatment, a medical flight home to Australia, cancelled prepaid bookings, stolen luggage or your rental car excess. A short flight doesn’t mean a small bill: an evacuation off a glacier or out of a South Island valley is expensive wherever you started from.
What region do I select for New Zealand when I get a quote?
New Zealand sits inside the South Pacific region of travel. If you’re only visiting New Zealand you can select New Zealand on its own rather than the whole region, and that can work out a better premium. Select the South Pacific region if your trip also takes in Fiji, the Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa or another Pacific destination — including a stopover.
Does Medicare cover me in New Zealand?
Not directly, but the reciprocal health care agreement between Australia and New Zealand does some of the work. On a temporary visit you can access immediately necessary treatment in the New Zealand public system — public hospital care, maternity services and subsidised pharmaceuticals — if you show your passport and Medicare card. It doesn’t cover GP and primary care visits, the full cost of GP-prescribed medicines, or ambulance travel, and it does nothing for cancellation, luggage or getting you home to Australia.
If ACC covers visitors, why do I still need travel insurance?
Because ACC is narrower than most Australians assume. It’s a no-fault accident scheme, so it covers treatment and rehabilitation for accidental injury in New Zealand — including for visitors — but it doesn’t cover illness at all. It won’t pay for cancelled flights, delays, missed connections or lost luggage, it won’t fly you home to Australia, and it stops the moment you leave the country, so ongoing treatment and lost income back home aren’t covered. ACC also replaces your right to sue for personal injury in New Zealand.
Am I covered for bungy jumping, jet boating and rafting in New Zealand?
These sit on our automatically covered activity list, with conditions: bungy jumping is covered for a maximum of two jumps with a licensed commercial operator, jet boating as a passenger only with a licensed commercial operator, and white or black water rafting to Category 4 with a licensed commercial operator. Guided glacier walking, ziplining, zorbing, abseiling, mountain biking, kayaking, horse trekking and helicopter tours as a passenger are also on the list. Skydiving is not — declare it to us before you buy and we may be able to cover it.
Do I need extra cover to ski in Queenstown or Wanaka?
Yes. Skiing, snowboarding and similar snow activities aren’t covered as standard — you need the Snow Sports extension selected during your quote and shown on your Certificate of Insurance. That applies to Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona, Treble Cone, Mt Hutt and the Ruapehu fields. It can’t be added after purchase, so add it when you buy the policy.
Does my policy cover the rental car excess on a South Island road trip?
Rental vehicle excess cover is available on Go Plus and Go Elite, and can reimburse the insurance excess if a vehicle you’ve hired from a licensed rental company is damaged or stolen while in your custody, subject to the limits and conditions in the PDS. It isn’t available on Go Basic. New Zealand roads are narrower and slower than the equivalent drive at home, so on a self-drive itinerary it’s worth checking which level you’re quoting.
I’m cruising to New Zealand from Australia — what do I need to select?
Add the Cruise option to your quote as well as your destinations. If you’re on a sea or ocean cruise and haven’t selected it, medical claims arising from the cruise — including ship-to-shore evacuation — aren’t covered. A sailing that leaves Sydney or Brisbane also passes through Australian waters before it reaches New Zealand, so make sure your destination selection covers the whole route. Our cruise cover page sets out what’s included on board.
What should I do if I’m hospitalised in New Zealand?
Contact our 24/7 emergency assistance team as soon as possible on +61 7 3481 9880 or sos@goinsurance.com.au. If you’re admitted to hospital, or your medical costs are likely to exceed $2,000, contacting us is a condition of your policy — our team can then deal directly with the hospital, manage costs and arrange a medical flight home if it’s needed. In an emergency in New Zealand, dial 111 first. Claims can be started any time via our claims support page or claims@goinsurance.com.au.