Exactly what these smoother pathways will look like, how many people they'll affect, and when changes will take effect are among the key issues yet to be ironed out.
Australians in New Zealand can get an easy pathway to citizenship once they've lived in New Zealand for five years.
The prime ministers' decision marks a significant change and follows years of New Zealand lobbying Australia to improve the rights of Kiwis living across the ditch.
The issue is partly that a disproportionately large number of Kiwis in Australia don't apply for citizenship, possibly without realising the rights they're forgoing until something goes wrong.
Another upside of the commitment for New Zealand is that if Kiwi criminals get Australian citizenship, they won't be able to be deported back to New Zealand. This will get to the root cause of the vexed "501s" issue, which has been blamed for contributing towards New Zealand's gang problem.
At least until these arrangements take effect, Albanese said Australia would keep deporting people (as New Zealand does); however, it will take a common-sense approach towards doing so. In other words, Australia might think twice before deporting someone who has lived in Australia for all their lives and has no connections to New Zealand.
Albanese said Australia would take the approach of "friends". Exactly what this friendship looks like is yet to be seen.
Coming back to the smoother pathways to Australian citizenship, a downside for New Zealand is this could encourage foreigners to use New Zealand as a backdoor to Australia.
As details of the policy change are worked through, New Zealand will need to ensure it doesn't see New Zealand lose talent to Australia.
Ardern, throughout her five-day visit to Australia, spoke a lot about New Zealand and Australia being a "package deal" for tourists.
She will need to ensure New Zealand remains the most attractive part of the package when it comes to people deciding where they live.
Government ministers and business leaders who spent part of the week in Australia returned home in good spirits.
Politicians have a concrete agreement to celebrate. Meeting with their counterparts that have similar left-leaning views helped build the relationship.
Albanese was at pains to stress his government would put more emphasis on climate change than the Scott Morrison government, for example.
The difference between the two countries will, however, continue to lie in their approaches towards foreign affairs.
New Zealand is notably more diplomatic than Australia when it comes to China, tip-toeing around thorny efforts that could severe the relationship with the country's main trading partner.
Members of the 31-strong business delegation were also upbeat. While some have already done extensive overseas travel since it's become more accessible, others ventured overseas for the first time since Covid-19 came along.
The connections they made with each other are possibly as notable as the connections they made with potential business partners and clients overseas.
As was written before the trade mission, these trips are about relationship-building long-term, more so than about quick wins.
The importance of Australia to New Zealand is all the more important against a backdrop of increasing economic and geopolitical instability.
Not all annual catch-ups with the cuzzies go well. This one, between New Zealand and Australia, did.
