The Government says it's righting a wrong as it changes its mind on the repatriation of Kiwi war dead.

Minister of Veteran's Affairs David Bennett has today announced the families of military personnel buried in Singapore and Malaysia between 1955 and 1971 will be able to bring their remains home.

It's a position his predecessors had previously opposed.

"This is something those families have been looking for for a number of years, and is there to right a situation that had been in the wrong place for New Zealanders for a long time," he said.

Mr Bennett said they're expecting to pay up to $200,000 per repatriation.

About 100 New Zealand soldiers are reported to be buried overseas, most of them in Malaysia and Singapore but also in Japan, South Korea and Samoa.

The RSA has been urging the government to bring them home.

- Additional reporting by NZ Newswire