Interstate moves, planned in full

An interstate move asks more of the plan than a local one. The distance is longer, the decisions are locked in earlier and each end of the move sits under a different state's rules. A detail that costs an hour across town can cost far more across a border. As interstate removalists in Brisbane, we plan every interstate move from the inventory up.

Brisbane Moving Company is based in Slacks Creek and services Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Logan, Ipswich, Redlands and Moreton Bay. From here, we plan and quote interstate moves for households and businesses heading to New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria and further afield, with each destination assessed individually.

We are upfront about what you will not find on this page: a fixed timetable of departures or delivery windows. Every interstate move is planned around its own inventory, route, access and dates. What you do get is a quote that sets out how the job will run and what it will cost, confirmed before you book.

Five pieces of information decide an interstate quote. The more precise they are, the more accurate the quote.

1. The inventory

List your furniture room by room, including the garage, outdoor settings and anything in storage, with an approximate carton count. Volume and weight determine the truck, and on an interstate move a truck that is too small is an expensive mistake.

2. The route

Give full addresses for every pick-up, delivery and storage location, including any stop along the way.

3. The dates

Separate the dates that are fixed, such as a lease end, settlement or key handover, from the ones that can move. Flexibility gives us more options when planning the job.

4. Access at both ends

Describe the stairs, lifts, driveways and parking at both homes. You arrange lift bookings, loading zones and parking permits at both addresses, including at the destination, where building rules may differ from anything you know in Brisbane.

5. The level of service

Tell us whether you need packing, furniture dismantling and reassembly, storage, or junk removal before you leave. Each is written into the scope.

Your quote then sets out the crew and truck, the travel basis, any extras and the charges, all before you book. A deposit secures the date and the balance is payable on completion.

The route shapes both the cost and the plan, so it helps to know what lies between Brisbane and your new home.

• Brisbane to Sydney and the New South Wales coast. The coastal route follows the M1 out of Brisbane and the Pacific Highway down the New South Wales coast. The highway's four-lane dual carriageway upgrade was completed in December 2020, giving continuous dual carriageway from Newcastle to the Queensland border.
• Brisbane to Melbourne and Victoria. The Newell Highway is the major road link between south-east Queensland and Victoria, running through central New South Wales from Goondiwindi to Tocumwal on the Victorian border. At 1,058 kilometres, it is the longest highway in New South Wales. From Ipswich, the Cunningham Highway crosses the Great Dividing Range at Cunninghams Gap on its way to Goondiwindi.
• To Canberra, Adelaide and further. Longer routes are assessed individually, with travel and timing worked out as part of your quote.

Whatever the destination, the travel component is part of the quote you approve before booking, not a figure that appears afterwards.

A load travelling interstate has far more time to shift than one crossing town, so packing and loading matter more. Our packing team offers full and partial packing, fragile and high-care packing and furniture wrapping for interstate moves.

• Pack firmly. Cartons should be filled to the top, with heavy items in small boxes. Half-empty cartons can crush under the weight of the load above them.
• Wrap and secure. Furniture is wrapped in quilted blankets and stretch wrap, then held with ratchet straps, all included at no extra charge. Bubble wrap and dish packing paper are available on request.
• Label for the other end. Mark every carton with the room it belongs in and a short description, so it lands in the right place in a home the crew has never seen.
• Keep the essentials with you. Passports, jewellery, documents, medication, laptops and the keys to both homes should travel with you, not on the truck.
• Leave hazardous goods behind. We do not transport gas bottles, fuel, chemicals or other flammables. Drain fuel from mowers and other equipment, and arrange disposal of gas bottles before moving day.

Sending part of your household overseas at the same time? We pack for overseas moves too. The international shipping itself is arranged separately with your freight provider.

The items most likely to cause trouble at a border are in your garden, not your house.

Parts of South East Queensland, including areas of Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich and the Gold Coast, are within fire ant biosecurity zones. These zones restrict moving materials that can carry fire ants, such as soil, mulch, turf, hay and potted plants, within and out of Queensland. Pot plants kept indoors or on a solid surface such as concrete can be moved without restriction. Outdoor pot plants in contact with the ground need extra steps, such as bare-rooting them and replacing the soil with new bagged potting mix. The zones are reviewed regularly, so check the current rules at fireants.org.au before packing anything from the garden.

Your destination may have its own rules. Western Australia asks people bringing personal effects into the state to complete a declaration for the movement of personal goods, and to make sure items used outdoors are free of soil and other contaminants. Tasmania requires household items and garden tools to be washed free of soil, seeds and plant material, and contaminated equipment must be treated at the owner's expense.

The practical rule: clean outdoor furniture, mowers, bikes, boots and garden tools before they are packed, and check the rules for any plant before it goes on the truck.

Queensland does not observe daylight saving time. New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT do, from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April. During those months, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne run an hour ahead of Brisbane. Key collection, lift bookings and settlement times at the destination are set in local time, so record them that way and plan the delivery around them.

A few deadlines follow you across the border:

• Driver licence. Each state sets its own rules. New South Wales, for example, requires new residents to get a NSW driver licence within three months of living there.
• Vehicle registration. If you take a Queensland-registered vehicle with you, you will need to register it in your new state. Registering it there does not automatically cancel your Queensland registration; cancelling it lets you apply for a refund of the unused portion, including the CTP component.
• Mail, power and internet. Set up mail redirection and arrange power and internet at the new address before you arrive, so the first night is not spent without either.

Interstate moves are quoted individually, because distance, volume and access vary far more than on a local job. As a reference point, our hourly rates are $125 to $169 per hour + GST, depending on the type of move and truck size, for a moving truck, two professional movers and all standard equipment, with additional movers and larger trucks available.

Travel is charged depot-to-depot or as a call-out fee, depending on the job and location, and additional travel charges may apply for outer or remote areas. All of it is confirmed with you before booking. Extras of $48 including GST each apply where relevant, including appliances, items over 90kg, apartment stairs per flight, each additional pick-up or drop-off and a driveway the truck cannot access. Piano relocation is $149 including GST, subject to an access assessment.

The biggest levers on cost are in your hands: how much you take, how ready it is when the truck arrives and how clear the access is at both ends. Parking or permit costs at either address are passed on, and waiting time is chargeable if delivery cannot be completed in a timely manner, so confirm key collection and building access at the destination before the truck leaves. See our pricing page for the full list.

Interstate dates do not always line up. Settlement at one end may fall after the lease ends at the other. A staged move bridges the gap: your belongings are collected and taken to storage, then delivered when the new home is ready. We handle storage pick-ups and deliveries, with each stage quoted separately.

Decluttering before you go? Our junk removal service clears unwanted furniture and household goods, charged for the time involved plus a disposal fee by weight and type. For moves that stay within Queensland, such as Brisbane to Toowoomba or Townsville, see long-distance removals.

When you request a quote, our sales team aims to call you back within five minutes during business hours (8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday). Have both full addresses ready, along with your key dates, a room-by-room inventory and the access details at each end, and we will start planning the move.