It's not just economic growth, budget surpluses or rugby in which Australia comes a poor second to New Zealand.
It is way behind its cross-Tasman neighbour in employing mature workers, missing out on potentially billions of dollars to expand the economy.
The Abbott government's push to get businesses employing more mature staff appears to be working, but a new report shows Australia still has plenty of work to do.
Releasing its latest Golden Age Index on Monday, consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers says Australia has risen five places to 15th among the 34 nations that make up the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
However, New Zealand continues to excel, maintaining its second place behind Iceland.
"If Australia could match New Zealand's mature age employment rate, Australia could generate an annual average increase of $24 billion in nominal GDP," PwC's global people business leader Jon Williams said.
He said it was a myth that employing more mature staff would block the path for younger workers, but the country needed to change its bias against older workers.
As such, Mr Williams said it was pleasing to see the government's commitment to a group of workers that were sometimes overlooked.
He thought the appointment of Age and Disability Commissioner Susan Ryan as the first ambassador for mature age employment last week by Treasurer Joe Hockey was a "great step forward".
"Businesses who make better use of the skills and experience of older workers gain a real competitive advantage at a time when their customer bases are also ageing," Mr Williams said.
