Does ACC pay for the flight home?

Generally not. ACC covers treatment for accidental injuries in New Zealand, including for visitors, but the trip home is usually covered by travel insurance or paid privately.

Can you collect a patient from Queenstown?

Yes. A dedicated aircraft can usually collect from Queenstown or the nearest suitable airport, depending on the weather and the patient's condition.

Is a nurse escort enough for a trans-Tasman flight?

For many stable patients, yes. The flight is short, and we will tell you honestly whether it is safe.

Do New Zealanders living in Australia use the same process?

Yes. We arrange the transfer in the same way, with the receiving Australian hospital confirmed before departure.

Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and the South Island

Medical Repatriation from New Zealand to Australia

New Zealand's hospitals are of a similar standard to Australia's, so a trans-Tasman transfer is rarely about getting better care. It is about getting the patient home to family, their own doctors and a familiar health system, at the point where the move is safe.

Call 24/7: 1800 796 769

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From overseas: +61 3 8820 6840

Send patient details

A few details is enough. A coordinator calls you back to go through the rest.

Where is the patient now? *

Where do they need to go? *

Patient's condition, in plain words *

Level of care *

How urgent? *

Your name and phone *

Email (for your confirmation)

Medical reports (optional)Attach discharge summary or doctor's report (PDF or photo, up to 10 MB each)

Prefer WhatsApp? Message +61 3 8820 6840

Your privacy. Medical information you send is handled confidentially by our medevac coordination team and is only used to plan the patient's transfer. Reports are stored privately and never published. Privacy policy

What situations do Australians face in New Zealand?

The flights are short, the paperwork is simpler than anywhere else we work, and Australians and New Zealanders move between the two countries freely. The detail that most often catches families out is funding: ACC pays for treatment of injuries in New Zealand, but not for the trip home.

Ski and adventure injuries

Fractures and spinal injuries from skiing at Queenstown, Wanaka and Mount Hutt, and injuries from mountain biking, jet boating and hiking.

Road accidents

Crashes on long rural roads, especially on the South Island, where patients may be taken to Dunedin or Christchurch first.

Heart problems and stroke

Older travellers and visiting family who are treated in New Zealand and need rehabilitation at home.

Australians living in New Zealand

Expatriates and dual residents who want treatment for a serious diagnosis in Australia.

How do hospitals in New Zealand handle discharge for a transfer?

Public hospitals such as Auckland City, Middlemore, Christchurch and Dunedin follow a process much like Australia's. The treating team agrees the patient is fit to fly, prepares a discharge summary, and hands over to the receiving Australian doctor. Records are in English, which makes this one of the quickest discharges to arrange.

Patients injured in Queenstown or other smaller centres are usually transferred to a larger hospital first. We can collect them from the nearest suitable airport rather than routing through Auckland, which saves time for the patient.

Commercial stretcher or dedicated jet: which is right?

Seated with a medical escort

Trans-Tasman flights take about three to four hours, short enough for many patients to fly seated with a nurse escort.

Commercial airline stretcher

Some trans-Tasman services can carry a stretcher with notice and airline medical approval. It suits stable patients who must lie flat.

Dedicated air ambulance jet

A Learjet or Hawker 800 flies Auckland to Sydney in about three hours, and can collect directly from Christchurch, Queenstown or Wellington.

Because the flights are short, a dedicated air ambulance costs much less from New Zealand than from Asia or further afield.

How stretcher repatriation compares in cost

What documents are needed?

We need the passport, an English discharge summary and the insurance details. Australian and New Zealand citizens travel between the two countries on a passport without applying for a visa in advance.

Keep the ACC claim number for the treatment in New Zealand, and the Medicare card for the Australian admission. Travel insurance, or the family, usually covers the transfer itself.

Which routes do we fly from New Zealand?

All routes we fly

Flight details for the main trans-Tasman route:

Air Ambulance Auckland to Sydney

About 3 hours nonstop across the Tasman.

Last reviewed 9 November 2026. Read alongside official travel advice: Travel advice: New Zealand (Smartraveller, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade); Travel insurance (Smartraveller, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade); Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (Services Australia).

International medical repatriation guide