Forsyth Barr KiwiSaver specialist Damian Foster said the transtasman portability part of the Taxation Bill would allow Australian pensions to be transferred to an individual's KiwiSaver account.
"Every New Zealander who has worked in Australia will have superannuation funds sitting over there in an Australian superannuation fund.
"It is called 'lost money'. It is a huge amount of money sitting in those funds.
"If the Australian and New Zealand Governments adopt the legislation, New Zealanders can apply to have the money moved into their KiwiSaver account."
It was estimated there was $A15 billion ($NZ18.75 billion) of "lost money" in Australia, about 25% of it belonging to New Zealanders, Mr Foster said.
Australians had been encouraged to find their lost superannuation with several online search engines dedicated to the task, including the Australian Tax Office.
New Zealanders who located their money would ultimately be able to bring it home.
The catch was that the money had to be invested in KiwiSaver.
It could not be brought to New Zealand and withdrawn, he said.
The scheme would be voluntary and New Zealanders happy to have their funds invested in Australia would not be forced to bring them back to KiwiSaver.
However, it might be better for many people to have the funds in New Zealand where they could keep track of them, Mr Foster said.
The taxation legislation affecting transtasman superannuation was expected to be passed later this month and come into effect on October 1.
The Australian Government was expected to pass its legislation soon after the New Zealand Government.
The changes also meant that people moving to Australia or New Zealand to live could take their Australian superannuation or KiwiSaver schemes with them, he said.
They had to be reinvested in a superannuation scheme but the government contributions would be retained.
Currently, if people withdrew their KiwiSaver early to move overseas, the Government reclaimed its contributions such as the $1000 start-up contribution and the annual tax credits.
Mr Foster said the changes would encourage people to continue saving if the moved either way across the Tasman.
Other changes proposed in the New Zealand taxation legislation were bringing the prescribed investment tax rate (PIR) down to 28% on October 1, matching the company tax and below the personal tax rate of 30% to give a "slight" tax advantage to savers.
New contribution rates would become available at 6% and 10% along with the current 2%, 4% or 8% rates.
The compulsory rate for both employees and employers would remain at 2%, he said.
KiwiSaver was making its presence felt in financial markets with more than 1.4 million members contributing to the scheme.
That was much larger take-up than expected with the previous Labour government not expecting those numbers until closer to 2015, Mr Foster said.
More than $150 million went into KiwiSaver funds each month and nearly 30,000 new members signed up each month.
Although the numbers joining were down on previous years, they were still substantial, he said.
Changes to the Financial Advisers Act meant that people advising on KiwiSaver had to become authorised financial advisers (AFA) by June 30, 2011.
"For a lot of people, KiwiSaver is their only superannuation investment.
"It is important that if this is their only experience with investment that it is a good experience.
"It is essential new members get good advice and are directed to a scheme that is suitable for them."
As expected, the first applications to withdraw KiwiSaver First Home funds had started, Mr Foster said.
The withdrawal allowed members who had been in KiwiSaver for three or more years to withdraw their own contributions, employer contributions and investment gains to put towards a first home.
Housing New Zealand offered a subsidy of between $3000 and $5000 for KiwiSaver members, with some conditions.
The scheme provided a start for young people considering buying a home and was the only chance they had to withdraw funds from KiwiSaver before retirement, he said.
