Labour leader Andrew Little says it is not fair that Kiwis pay tax in Australia for social services that they are denied access to.

Labour leader Andrew Little hopes a visit to Australia will "shake the tree" on the country's treatment of Kiwi expats who are denied access to government services.

Little will speak to the Australian parliament's foreign affairs, defence and trade committee, as well as its migration committee, on Wednesday about the rules for New Zealanders who move to Australia.

In 2001, the Australian government removed New Zealanders' rights to permanent residency, instead granting them special visas allowing them to live and work there indefinitely but denying them access to a range of benefits they could previously apply for.

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Little said he had raised the issue with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull some time ago, saying it was unfair to tax Kiwis but then deny them access to the services they were helping to pay for.

"You can work there most of your working live, pay your way but you're excluded under quite discriminatory grounds on getting services that other people and other taxpayers in Australia get."

Little said the difficulty of obtaining Australian citizenship was also behind an influx of Kiwis being deported to New Zealand, following a tightening of visa cancellation rules.

"The reason why a lot of the people are in this situation of being detained after completing a criminal sentence is that the pathway to citizenship is so hard, very expensive and people just haven't taken it, so now they find themselves in this situation even though all their family is there, their support networks are there."

Little said his visit was a chance to put New Zealand concerns "on the record" with Australian politicians and prompt them to review the current rules.

"It's a matter of putting those points of fairness to them and hopefully shaking the tree a bit and seeing whether it elicits a change."

Many backbench Australian MPs were surprised to hear about the conditions that applied to New Zealanders working in their country, he said.

Little will also visit the Villawood detention centre during his trip to speak to Kiwi detainees.