Moving house is a logistics job, not just a packing job. This checklist is built the way we run our own jobs at Next Level Removals — week by week, from the first booking call to the last box off the truck — so nothing gets missed between now and moving day.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 8 weeks before | Book your removalist and lock in a moving date. |
| 8 weeks before | Set a moving budget covering removalists, boxes, cleaning and connections. |
| 7 weeks before | Declutter room by room before you start packing anything. |
| 4 weeks before | Start packing non-essential rooms first. |
| 4 weeks before | Sort school enrolment and childcare transfers if you’re moving with kids. |
| 4 weeks before | Book a pet-friendly transport plan or vet transfer if needed. |
| 2 weeks before | Submit your change of address with Australia Post and key accounts. |
| 2 weeks before | Schedule utility disconnections and connections for your new address. |
| 1 week before | Confirm your removalist booking, truck size and arrival window. |
| 1 week before | Pack your essentials box last, unpack it first. |
| Moving day | Walk the empty house and hand over keys once the truck is loaded. |
8 Weeks Before: Book, Budget, Declutter
Book your removalist first. Good crews get booked out weeks ahead, especially for weekend and end-of-month slots, so this is the one task that should never slip. When you call, have your new address, an idea of your home size and any access issues (stairs, narrow driveways, apartment lifts) ready — it speeds up an accurate quote.
While you’re at it, set a realistic budget. Removalist cost depends on your home size and truck requirements, not just distance, so get a same-day quote rather than guessing from a friend’s move.
Then declutter before you pack a single box. Anything you sell, donate or bin now is something you don’t have to pack, carry, unpack and find a home for later. Go room by room rather than trying to do the whole house in one session, and set a firm cut-off date so decluttering doesn’t drag into your packing weeks. It’s also worth deciding early whether you’re doing your own packing or having it done for you, since that changes how the rest of your timeline shapes up. A busy household, two working parents, or a large home is where a professional pack tends to earn its cost back in time and reduced stress during the final week.
4 Weeks Before: Packing, Kids, Pets
Start with rooms you don’t use daily — the garage, spare room, linen cupboard. Label every box with the destination room and a one-line contents note; it saves an enormous amount of time on unpacking day. If packing isn’t something you want to take on yourself, most removalists including ours offer packing services as an add-on, and can supply sturdy moving boxes so you’re not hunting down cartons from the supermarket.
If you’re moving with kids, this is the point to contact your new school or childcare centre about enrolment and start dates — waiting until the week of the move often means a longer gap before they start. Talk to your kids about the move early too; a familiar toy packed last and unpacked first helps more than people expect.
If you have pets, decide now how they’ll travel on the day. Most pets do best boarded or with a friend for the actual loading and unloading — trucks, strangers and open doors are a stressful combination for an animal. If you’re moving interstate, check your destination state’s import conditions for pets well ahead of time, as some require paperwork or vaccination records in advance. Also use this window to work out what’s actually going with you. If you’re downsizing, or some furniture won’t suit the new place, selling or donating it now avoids paying to move something you’ll get rid of within weeks of arriving.
2 Weeks Before: Change of Address and Utilities
This is the stage most people underestimate, because it’s not one task — it’s a list of accounts, each with their own notice period. At minimum, update your address with Australia Post mail redirection, your bank, your employer, the electoral roll, and your vehicle registration. Utilities (electricity, gas, internet, water) need both a disconnection at the old address and a connection at the new one, timed so you’re not without power on move-in day.
We’ve kept this as its own dedicated guide because it deserves the detail: see our full change of address checklist for the complete list of who to notify and when.
1 Week Before: Confirmations and the Essentials Box
Call your removalist to confirm the date, time window and truck size — especially if your inventory has changed since you first booked. Confirm access at both ends: parking permits if you’re in an inner-city suburb, lift bookings for apartments, and building manager notice if your strata requires it.
Pack an essentials box last and keep it separate from the truck load if possible. It should cover the first 24 hours: toiletries, phone chargers, a change of clothes, basic tools, snacks, and any medication. Label it clearly and load it last so it comes off first.
Defrost and clean the fridge, empty the bin, and check any items your removalist can’t transport — gas bottles, flammable liquids, and some large pot plants typically need separate arrangements.
Moving Day: What Your Removalists Handle vs What You Do
This is the part no utility company or general moving guide can tell you accurately, because it depends on how a removalist actually runs a job. Here’s the real division of labour on moving day:
| Your removalists handle | You handle |
|---|---|
| Wrapping and padding furniture | Final walkthrough of every room before the truck leaves |
| Loading the truck in an order that protects fragile items | Keeping your essentials box and valuables with you, not on the truck |
| Driving and transport, including interstate legs | Meeting the truck at the new address within the agreed window |
| Unloading and placing furniture in the rooms you direct | Directing which room each labelled box and piece of furniture goes to |
| Basic reassembly of items they disassembled to move | Final utility meter readings at both properties |
Booking hours vary by home size, and this is where a lot of people get their budget wrong — a 1-bedroom move is quoted at a 2-hour minimum, while a 3-, 4- or 5-bedroom home moves to a 4-hour minimum truck booking, because of the volume involved rather than the distance travelled.
Pre-packing changes this equation more than most people expect. One of our recent jobs, a pre-pack ahead of a Sydney-to-Goulburn move, is a good example of what a well-prepared move looks like on the day: the customer had our team pack in advance, and by moving day everything was ready to load straight onto the truck — the review described it as “a careful, efficient, and thorough job” from Roodi and his team. That’s the difference pre-packing makes: less time on-site packing boxes, more time loading and driving, and a shorter, more predictable time on the clock. The other factor that catches people out is access. A ground-floor house with driveway parking loads much faster than a third-floor apartment with a shared lift booked in 30-minute slots. If your building has lift restrictions or strict loading-dock hours, tell your removalist when you book — it changes how many hours to allow and sometimes how many crew are sent.
Moving Interstate? Extra Steps
An interstate move adds a layer of admin on top of everything above, and it’s worth starting this earlier than the 8-week mark if you can.
- Driver’s licence transfer: most states require you to transfer your licence within a set window of becoming a resident — check your new state’s road authority for the current timeframe rather than assuming it’s the same as your last move.
- Vehicle registration: your rego generally needs to be transferred to the new state, along with a roadworthy or safety inspection in some states.
- School enrolment: interstate school systems don’t always align term dates or curricula, so start enrolment conversations as early as possible if you’re moving with school-aged kids.
- Electoral roll and Medicare: both need updating with your new address once you’ve moved.
- Backloading as the money-saver: if your move date has some flexibility, backloading — sharing truck space with another interstate job on the same route — is usually the biggest single way to cut an interstate removalist quote. See our backloading option if your dates aren’t fixed.
Interstate jobs are also priced and timed differently to a local move — expect a transit window measured in days rather than hours, and a quote based on truck size and distance band rather than an hourly rate. Booking further ahead matters more here too: interstate trucks and crews are scheduled around multi-day routes, so a date change close to the move is harder to accommodate than it would be for a local job. If you want the exact steps for your specific route, every one of our interstate route pages covers “how do I prepare?” as part of its FAQ.
Printable Checklist (PDF)
We’re putting together a free, printable version of this checklist that you can stick on the fridge or tick off on your phone. It’ll cover every stage above in one page — check back here shortly, or give us a call and we’ll talk you through the list over the phone in the meantime.
Ready to lock in your date? Get a free quote and we’ll work out the right truck size and crew for your move.