New Zealand Prime Minister John Key met Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard over the weekend to discuss, among other things, the plight of New Zealanders seeking to start a new life in Australia.

For one, Mr. Key is presumed to have told Ms. Gillard that moving to Australia could become easier for Kiwis if they are given the privilege of an easier access to residency, according to TVNZ.

The issue was brought up after many New Zealanders affected by the Queensland floods were not able to access Australian government grants.

Migration researcher Paul Hammer told TV ONE's Breakfast that Kiwis who moved to Australia post 2001 became ineligible to a range of services unless they became a permanent resident, thus, an estimated 100,000 Kiwis are denied welfare and other entitlements across the country.

Unemployment assistance, tertiary student allowances or loans would help the Kiwis establish a life in Australia if these were granted to them. On top of that, Kiwis are not eligible to vote in Australia.

"Many people just think that the door is open over there and they walk right through it and they don't do a lot of research," said Mr. Hammer.

However, Mr. Hammer told the morning show it is unlikely there will be a very big shift away from this following the talks between the two nations leaders.

Mr. Hammer said while the nations are discussing a possible easier pathway to citizenship, the Australia government could start exploring short-term assistance, such as looking closely at student allowances and entitlements for student loans.

"Basically the lack of New Zealanders' access to that is breeding something of an underclass of New Zealanders in Australia; where parents can't re-train if they need to get better employment and children who leave school suddenly find that they can't really get any tertiary education at all... And so they're looking at dead-end jobs, you see a rise in youth crime and a sense of hopelessness amongst people of that age," Mr. Hammer said.