How to get a COVID test for travel to New Zealand
Flying to NZ? Now you'll need to add a COVID-19 test to your pre-flight checklist.
By David Flynn, July 6 2021
Flying from Australia to New Zealand has become a bit more complicated – and a bit more costly – since the quarantine-free 'travel bubble' first opened in April 2021.
New Zealand now requires a pre-departure COVID-19 test for all Australians visiting the country, even if they have been fully vaccinated.
This information is correct at the time of writing – July 6, 2021 – and readers are advised to visit the NZ government's Unite Against COVID-19 website for the latest updates on Australia-New Zealand travel restrictions and arrangements.
The specific COVID-19 tests needed for travellers from Australia are PCR or RT-PCR tests, for which you need to return a negative result.
The tests must be done at a private pathology clinic, which provide the necessary result certificates for travel clearance, not a free community testing station.
These tests typically cost around $150, and there's no Medicare rebate available.
You need to have both your COVID-19 sample taken and your result returned no more than 72 hours before the scheduled departure time of your flight from Australia to New Zealand.
That 72-hour timeframe makes it vital that you plan ahead, and ideally choose a pathology service which can provide same-day or next-day results. Many clinics now offer same-day service for RT-PCR tests at selected locations.
The NZ Unite Against COVID-19 websitelists the following clinics as offering pre-departure testing in Australia:
ACT
New South Wales
- 4Cyte Pathology
- Australian Clinical Labs
- Capital Pathology
- Douglas Hanly Moir Pathology
- Healius Pathology
- Medlab Pathology
- Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology
- Safework Laboratories
Northern Territory
Queensland
- 4Cyte Pathology
- Healius Pathology
- Medlab Pathology
- Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology
- Safework Laboratories
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
- 4Cyte Pathology
- Australian Clinical Labs
- Douglas Hanly Moir Pathology
- Healius Pathology
- Melbourne Pathology
- Safework Laboratories
Western Australia
New Zealand pre-departure COVID-19 tests results received by email should be printed out and carried with you when you travel. At the time of writing there's no facility to use a smartphone app to store or show these test results.
This information is correct at the time of writing – July 6, 2021 – and readers are advised to visit the NZ government's Unite Against COVID-19 website for the latest updates on Australia-New Zealand travel restrictions and arrangements.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.