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New Zealand

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Accommodations and Accessibility

The IFSA team is ready to help you plan for various accommodations you might need abroad. We’re here to support you and help you prepare for a successful study abroad experience.    

Early planning is key. First, it’s important to know that options for accommodations vary by country, city, and university. This makes it important to share your requests for academic, mental health, diet, religious practices, housing, physical disabilities, and other accommodations early in the planning process. Connect with your IFSA Enrollment Counselor or with our Health, Safety and Wellness team at hsw@ifsa-butler.org as soon as possible.   

The information you share on your health and wellness and housing forms supports this process. After receiving these forms, our Health and Wellness team will follow up as needed to help you arrange accommodations you may need. Our goal is to plan carefully with your help, working with our UK team as needed.   

Academic accommodation. Academic accommodations are generally possible and handled on a case-by-case basis. Students should work with their New Zealand university to secure accommodations, and the IFSA team is here to answer questions and provide guidance. Here are some resources to get you started: 

Mobility. New Zealand is famous for its incredible outdoor landscapes and opportunities for recreation and wants them to be enjoyed by people of all abilities. Most transportation is designed with accessibility in mind.  

  • Welcome to New Zealand, New Zealand government; great resource for outdoor opportunities 
  • Auckland Transport Metro (includes bus, train, and ferry services). Excellent accessibility support includes wheelchair accessibility via ramps and buses that kneel, on-demand audio announcements of schedules and stops, and braille signage. Ferries are accessible. Auckland Transport is also responsible for accessibility features on footpaths and cycleways.  
  • Wellington Metlink. Committed to increasing accessibility. Currently, all trains are wheelchair accessible, although not all have wheelchair hoist service. Some carriages are high enough that access via ramp could potentially require help. Trains include hearing loops; some have automated audio announcements. Most buses are wheelchair accessible.  
  • Dunedin Orbus. Buses can lower themselves closer to curbs and wheelchair ramps. Only some stops have electronic displays that show readable timetables and an audio button for upcoming departures.   
  • Christchurch Metro bus network. Very accessible for those with mobility impairments. All buses have super-low floors, ability to kneel to the curb, and ramps fitted to allow easy access for most mobility device users and wheelchair spaces. Electronic bus locators at stops display real-time timetables and have text-to-speech options.  

Learn about accessibility on campus: 

Mental and Physical Health

Maintaining your mental and physical health while abroad is a priority, and we’re ready to help you plan to support both. We’re here to help you work with CISI insurance to find local health care abroad, as well as to create a plan for your specific needs. Early planning is key, so don’t hesitate to work with our Health and Wellness team early in the application process and ask for guidance from your Enrollment Counselor. Please share your needs on our health and housing forms, so we can follow up. 

Mental health. Like many countries, New Zealand is working to undo stereotypes and stigma surrounding mental health conditions. The ‘Like Minds, Like Mine’ program has been working to promote better attitudes and better support towards for people coping with mental illness issues for years, with significant economic benefits for the economy. The country is slowly making progress towards normalization of mental health issues.   

Sports and fitness. New Zealand offers world-class sporting and fitness facilities, and each university offers a variety of sports, recreational activities, and gym facilities for students. Students can often rent outdoor gear for snow sports, water sports, camping, hiking (called tramping here) and more. Check your university web site and ask us for more specifics at your location.  

Check with the IFSA team about CISI insurance coverage for injuries sustained during sports. Coverage is generally broad but there are exceptions for high-level competition. 

Eating healthy.  

Faith Communities

Studying abroad will likely introduce you to new religions and faith communities around the world. If you plan to practice your religion abroad, consider researching the customs, laws, and places of worship at your destination. 

While the past two decades have seen a trend towards secularism, religion is still widely practiced and accepted throughout New Zealand. Roughly half the population is religious. Traditional Māori beliefs do not take the form of organized religion but are intertwined within Māori culture. Freedom of religious expression is a human right in New Zealand and traditional Māori understandings are recognized and acknowledged in parts of New Zealand legislation. 

The most common faith is Christianity (82% of the religious community); Christian events such as Easter and Christmas are observed as public holidays. Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Sihkism are also practiced throughout the country. Almost all religions are represented on campuses through student clubs and organizations open to visiting students. Ask IFSA team members for more information. 

More to explore: 

Considerations for Women

New Zealand is known as a champion for gender equality, often worn as a point of pride. In 1893, it became the first country in the world to give women the right to vote. Dame Jenny Shipley, Hon. Helen Clark, and Hon. Dame Jacinda Ardern have all served as acting Prime Ministers. In 2004, four women occupied the nation’s top parliamentary positions. In the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report (2020), New Zealand ranked sixth out of 153 countries for gender equality.   

Safety. New Zealand is known for its relatively low crime rate and global rankings as a safe and peaceful country. According to the Ministry of Justice, the most common types of crimes are fraud and deception, and burglary and physical offenses such as robberies and non-sexual assaults. 

Dress. Like many western countries, individuals dress largely as they prefer, with few cultural expectations to conform to outside of formal spaces. When visiting a marae (Māori meeting house) it is respectful to dress modestly and follow the Māori custom of taking off shoes, hats, and sunglasses before entering.  

As ideas about traditional gender roles, stereotypes and expectations change over time, the New Zealand public is generally more aware of gender-based issues. You can feel largely at ease visiting as a woman. Still, no country is perfect and it’s best to be prepared and take precautions to stay safe. Ask the IFSA team if you need help finding female-only spaces, activities and clubs on your campus.  

More to explore: 

Race and Ethnicity

Aotearoa New Zealand has a multicultural population and is generally welcoming to people of various cultural backgrounds and ethnicities. Auckland is the largest city and has the most statistically diverse population; 40% of inhabitants were born overseas.  

Many IFSA students observe a commitment to respect and preservation of the indigenous cultures in everyday life in New Zealand. University gatherings often begin with an acknowledgement of native peoples. However, Māori and Pacific Island populations in NZ have have experienced marginalization, dislocation, and loss of resources as well as inequalities when it comes to the health, housing, education, food and the criminal justice systems. This has led to lower socioeconomic outcomes and in some cases racial stereotyping and stigmatism. Despite being considered a progressive country by international indexes, New Zealand’s history of race and ethnicity relations is complex and varied. 

It is not uncommon for students to experience ‘othering’ (feeling like an outsider) because they are American. This has also been reported by international students who attend college in the U.S. Know that the IFSA team is here to help you find support through student groups and other resources—just let us know.  

More to explore: 

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

New Zealand has been a leader in LGBTQIA+ rights, implementing several laws that support this community and a history of tolerance dating back to the 1980s.   
 
Same-sex relationships were legalized in 1986, and anti-discrimination measures were built into the Bill of Rights (1990) and Human Rights Act (1993) to ensure equal opportunity for employment, housing and access to services. Same-sex marriage and adoption rights followed in 2013.   

New Zealand is considered very safe and is currently ranked as the second-safest country in the world. Crime rates are relatively low. Theft from unattended vehicles is the most common crime. Still, it’s important to take personal safety measures. The Ministry of Justice is working on gathering more and better data for offenses against the LBGTQ+ community.    

About 10% of the population identifies as part of New Zealand’s LGBTQIA+ community, and most welcome LGBTQIA+ individuals. The IFSA team can provide additional resources on gender-neutral bathrooms, health care, and student associations for each university.  

More to explore:    

More Support

From help managing money to supporting first-generation college students, our professional advising staff and onsite teams are here for you.  

On a budget? Ask your IFSA team in Australia for a list of free and more affordable activities, including beach visits, stargazing, hiking, museum discount days and more! And keep in mind, all IFSA-sponsored activities and excursions are included in the cost of your program. 

Student Perspectives

Read about living and learning in New Zealand: Student Stories.