Recently updated on February 28th, 2025 at 05:32 pm
Wondering what the difference between Australia and New Zealand is? Well, you might have noticed that one is bigger than the other. That’s a good start, but there are plenty more differences from the people to the climate, the accent, their animals and flags.
Before we dive in, let’s make a comparison of Australia and New Zealand first. As former British colonies both countries down under are part of the Commonwealth, they love the same sports (cricket, rugby and soccer), both have incredible beaches and wine regions, and – depending who you ask – they both invented a meringue dessert called a pavlova.
Here are seven of the main differences between Australia and New Zealand.
1. The accent is different
If you’re from Australia or New Zealand you will think that the accents are worlds apart. But for an outsider (who might think the two nations are joined by a bridge) Aussies and Kiwi accents are tough to pick. There are some easy hints to listen for – the first is vowels. Aussies love to draw out their vowels and shorten words. George is more like “Geoorge”. Afternoon is arvo (read: aaarrvo). Something as simple as “no” can be “naaah” or “noooh”.
New Zealanders also play with vowels. Everything feels a little more nasal, so a “I” has a “U” sound. Fish and chips = fush and chups.
2. The flag is (somewhat) different
Yes, both flags feature the British Union Jack in the top left corner. Yes, both flags feature the Southern Cross star on the right-hand side. BUT the Australian flag has two extra stars – a small one near the cross and a big one under the Union Jack. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s flag has just four stars but they are red with a white outline. Yes, the difference between the Aussie and NZ flag are small, but they are important.
3. There are no dangerous animals in New Zealand
In New Zealand you can run through long grass without a care in the world. It’s something you wouldn’t do in Australia thanks to all those deadly snakes, spiders and other critters that might kill you. Somehow when the two countries physically separated some 85 million years ago, New Zealand’s animals didn’t evolve the same way.
You probably know Australia’s most famous native wildlife – the koala, kangaroo, wombat, emu, snakes and crocodile. Maybe you’re familiar with the platypus or echidna, birds such as cockatoos, rosellas and lorikeets, and of course the hundreds of tiny marsupials.
Over in New Zealand their most famous native animal is the kiwi, a brown flightless bird with a long beak. You can find other unique birds and parrots like the kea, tui, yellow-eyed penguin, little blue penguin and morepork owl, plus fur seals and dolphins.
4. New Zealand has all the volcanoes
Australia and New Zealand have very different landscapes and climates. New Zealand sits on a major fault line that causes earthquakes and volcanic activity that has shaped the small nation with volcanoes, fjords, lush forests, geothermal springs, alpine lakes, snowy mountains, islands, sandy beaches and limestone caves. It’s no wonder New Zealand is essentially one giant Lord of the Rings film set. The trilogy was filmed entirely in New Zealand across more than 150 locations on both the North and South islands.
5. Australia has all the deserts
In comparison, Australia is much drier than New Zealand. Say g’day to the Outback with the iconic red Uluru rock, little rain and plenty of desert. In the north of the country, you can step from a humid overgrown tropical rainforest straight onto white sandy beaches where the Great Barrier Reef kisses the coastline. In the south you can climb to a snowy peak and even ski in the winter months. Being a bigger country, Australia has more variety of landscapes to explore.
6. They’re incomparable in size
Though they may be (relatively) close geographically, in terms of size Australia and New Zealand couldn’t be more different.
Australia is made up of the mainland of the Australian continent, plus the island of Tasmania and other smaller islands. New Zealand is made up of two main landmasses, the North Island and the South Island, and then around 600 smaller islands.
Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world by land area, covering approximately 7.7 million square kilometres (2.9 million square miles). Whereas New Zealand is significantly smaller with a total land area of around 268,000 square kilometres (about 103,500 square miles). That makes Australia 28 times (or 2,780%) larger than New Zealand! This is reflected in their population; you have Australia’s 27 million inhabitants compared with New Zealand’s 5 million.
7. Both have a different words for flip flops
Most people know Australians like to call flip flops “thongs” (insert childish giggle here), but less people know that New Zealand has its own term for them. Kiwis call them “Jandals”, short for Japanese sandals. Now you know.