Your moving checklist

Most moving checklists are one long list of everything at once. This one is a timeline, because order matters. Some jobs need weeks of lead time, such as giving notice on a lease or booking a goods lift. Others only make sense the night before. Start at the stage that matches your calendar and work forward.

It is written for moves within Brisbane and across Queensland, so the paperwork points to the organisations you will actually deal with:

• Transport and Main Roads, for licence and rego
• The Residential Tenancies Authority, if you rent
• Brisbane City Council, if your new home is in Brisbane
• The Australian Electoral Commission
• Australia Post, for mail redirection

We also note where a removalist can take a job off your list. Packing, unpacking and furniture dismantling can be handed over. Lift bookings, parking permits and building access stay with you.

Eight weeks gives you room to choose rather than settle. Use it to lock in the fixed points of the move.

• Confirm your key dates. Settlement, lease end and lease start rarely line up. Decide whether you need an overlap, a gap or storage in between.
• Diary your lease notice (renters). In Queensland, tenants give notice with a Notice of intention to leave (Form 13). On a periodic agreement the minimum is 14 days. On a fixed-term agreement it is the later of 14 days or the day the agreement ends.
• Request removalist quotes. Have both addresses ready, including floor levels, plus your preferred date and a rough inventory. Weekend and public holiday moves are subject to availability, so ask early.
• Describe the access at both ends. Stairs, lifts, long carries from the door to the truck, steep or narrow driveways, parking limits and building rules. Disclosing them when you book lets us allocate the right truck, crew and equipment. A high-set Queenslander with a long front staircase is a different day from a single-level brick home.
• Flag heavy and specialist items. Pianos, safes, stone-topped tables and anything over 90kg are assessed individually, so mention them up front.
• Secure the date. Once the quote is agreed, a deposit secures your booking. The balance is payable on completion.
• Start the cull. Our moves are charged by the hour, so every item you don't move is time you don't pay for.

Ready to start? Request a quote and our team aims to call you back within five minutes during business hours (8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday).

A month out, the move becomes logistics: how the truck gets in at both ends, and which rooms you can live without.

• Book building access. If either address is an apartment, unit complex or office building, you arrange the lift booking, loading zone, parking permits and building access. Ask building management or the body corporate for a goods lift booking and the permitted move times, get it in writing and pass the details to us.
• Check where the truck will park. Look at the street outside both homes: clearways, no-standing zones, narrow streets and driveways the truck can't use. If the truck needs restricted street space, check with the council whether a permit is required. Parking and permit costs form part of the move cost.
• Book packing and unpacking if you want them. Our packing service covers full or partial packing and fragile, high-care items. Unpacking covers opening cartons, placing items in the rooms you choose, basic furniture assembly and removing used cartons.
• Clear out what isn't coming. Brisbane City Council runs a kerbside large item collection once a year in each suburb, so check the kerbside collection calendar for your suburb's dates. If it doesn't fall before your move, book junk removal rather than paying to move old furniture twice.
• Start with the rooms you use least. Spare rooms, the garage, the shed and out-of-season clothes. Label each carton on the top and one side with its destination room.
• Plan care for children and pets. A day with family or a quiet, closed room keeps them safe while doors are open.

The busiest fortnight. Switch the services over and get the house mostly packed.

• Set up mail redirection. Australia Post can redirect eligible letters and parcels for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months. Apply online or at a Post Office, with proof of identity. One application can cover up to six names.
• Arrange electricity, gas and internet. Book a final reading or disconnection at the old address and a connection at the new one, both dated for moving day. If you work from home, ask your internet provider how long connection will take.
• Book any licensed trades. Disconnecting and reconnecting plumbed-in fridges, dishwashers, gas appliances or anything hard-wired is licensed trade work, not removalist work. Book a plumber, electrician or gas fitter for each end.
• Pack the bulk of the house. Keep out only what you use every day. Heavy contents go in small cartons, light bulky items in large ones. Wrap plates individually, stand them on edge and mark fragile cartons clearly.
• Deal with hazardous items. We don't transport hazardous goods, so fuel, gas bottles, paint, pool chemicals and other hazardous products need another plan. Use them up, give them away or dispose of them properly.
• Confirm your booking details. Re-check the date, start time, both addresses, access arrangements and extras such as appliances, stairs or a second pick-up. We need at least 48 hours' notice to cancel or reschedule, and later cancellations incur a cancellation fee.

With a week to go, turn to the people, the paperwork and the things that must not go missing.

• Tell the people who need your new address. Your employer, bank, insurers, doctor, schools or childcare, and subscriptions. Government updates come once you have moved in.
• Check your insurance. Ask your contents insurer whether your policy covers belongings during the move, and make sure cover starts at the new address from moving day.
• Renters: book the exit clean and find your entry report. When you leave, the Exit condition report (Form 14a) is compared with the Entry condition report to check the property is in the same condition, apart from fair wear and tear. Have your copy and your move-in photos ready.
• Finish packing. Everything except the essentials. Keep the screws and fittings for each piece of furniture in a labelled bag taped to the item.
• Leave the beds to us. Basic dismantling and reassembly of beds, tables and similar furniture is included, along with the tools for it.
• Pack an essentials box. Documents, medication, chargers, keys, toiletries, a change of clothes, bed linen, a kettle, mugs and snacks. It travels with you, not on the truck.
• Plan the new home. Decide where the large furniture goes, and write room names to tape on the doors when you arrive.

The day before is for removing obstacles, so the crew can start loading the moment they arrive.

• Empty the fridge and freezer. Defrost and dry them, and leave the doors ajar so they stay fresh. Drain the washing machine hoses too.
• Confirm access one last time. Re-check the lift booking, loading dock and building access times at both addresses. If a booking falls through and delivery stalls, waiting time is chargeable.
• Clear the driveway and the kerb. Plan to move cars, bins and trailers so the truck can park as close to the door as possible.
• Stage the cartons. Stack packed cartons near the front door or in one room, heaviest at the bottom, and clear the walkways.
• Mark what is staying. Tag anything that isn't coming, so nothing is loaded by mistake.
• Set aside valuables. Jewellery, cash, passports, hard drives and important documents go with you.

On moving day, our crew brings the equipment: quilted blankets, furniture pads, stretch wrap, trolleys and ratchet straps, all included in the hourly rate. Your job is to make decisions quickly, so the crew keeps moving.

• Walk the crew through the house. Show what is moving, what is staying, the fragile pieces and any existing damage.
• Stay reachable. Nominate one person to answer questions at each address.
• Do a final sweep. Check every cupboard, wardrobe and drawer, the shed and the garage before the truck leaves. On a high-set home, check the space under the house too.
• Read the meters. Photograph the electricity and water meters before you leave. Renters should record the water meter reading: the RTA strongly advises it is noted in both the entry and exit condition reports.
• Get to the new home first. Have the keys, open up and show the crew where each room is. If you are buying, confirm when the keys will be released on settlement day and plan the delivery time around it.
• Direct as it comes in. Send furniture straight to its room, and ask for beds to be reassembled first so you can sleep that night.
• Settle the balance. The balance of your booking is payable on completion of the move.

Several Queensland address updates have deadlines, so start with these.

Update your address

• Licence and rego within 14 days. If you hold a Queensland driver licence, you must tell Transport and Main Roads within 14 days of changing address. It's free, and the change also updates the vehicle registrations in your name. A label showing your new address, to stick on your licence, arrives within 21 days.
• Other Queensland Government services. The Queensland Government's online change of address form updates your home or postal address with multiple departments at once, after you verify your identity with your digital identity. Check the list of services it covers before you start.
• Electoral enrolment. You are eligible to enrol at your new address once you have lived there for at least one month. One update with the Australian Electoral Commission covers federal, state and local government elections, so set a reminder.
• Everyone else. Medicare, the ATO and anyone you didn't reach before the move.

Finish the tenancy paperwork

• Moving out of a rental. Complete the Exit condition report (Form 14a), ideally with the property manager, with photos and the water meter reading. Return the keys and give your forwarding address; the property manager must send a completed copy there within three business days. Once the tenancy has ended, check your contact and bank details with the RTA, then apply for your bond refund through RTA Web Services or with a Refund of rental bond (Form 4).
• Moving into a rental. Return the signed Entry condition report (Form 1a) within seven days of moving in or receiving it, whichever is later, with dated photos of any existing marks or damage.

Around the house

• Bins. In Brisbane, look up your new address in Council's bin collection calendar or the free Brisbane Bin and Recycling app. General waste, recycling and green waste are collected at different times of the week.
• Dog registration. Brisbane City Council asks dog owners to update their details within 14 days of moving, and dogs moving into Brisbane from another council area must be registered within 14 days. Elsewhere, check your local council's rules.
• Smoke alarms. Test them. Queensland law requires interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms in all homes, townhouses and units from 1 January 2027.
• Unpack in order. Beds and the kitchen first, then bathrooms, then the rest. Or hand it over: our unpacking crew places items in the rooms you choose and takes away the used cartons.