This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in the stools of hospitalized patients with possible antibiotic-associated diarrhoea. From 176 faecal samples collected during 1997 and 1998, 66 strains of enterococci were recovered using vancomycin enrichment techniques. Only six of these displayed reduced susceptibility to vancomycin (MIC 8-12 mg/L). All VRE were positive for the presence of the vanC gene. Based on motility, pigment production and automated Gram-positive identification (GPI Vitek card), four of these six VRE isolates were identified as Enterococcus gallinarum. The remaining two isolates were non-motile and therefore were considered to be Enterococcus faecium. However, 16S rDNA sequence analysis and positive methyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside tests indicated that they were non-motile species of E. gallinarum. This is consistent with the intrinsic, low-level vanC-1-mediated resistance associated with this species. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis comparisons between the VRE indicated genetic relatedness between some strains. This work confirms that vancomycin-resistant E. faecium and Enterococcus faecalis are rare in New Zealand.