What is in this guide
Most change of address lists are alphabetical, which is the least useful possible order. A few of these carry a legal obligation and a deadline. Most just cost you a missed bill or a lost parcel. Two of them decide whether you can vote and whether your licence is valid.
This is the same list ordered by what happens if you forget.
Before you move
Set up mail redirection. Australia Post redirects letters and parcels from your old address to your new one for a fee, in terms of one, three, six or twelve months, with concession rates for eligible cardholders. As at 13 September 2026 the standard rates start at $40.50 for one month and run to $202.50 for twelve. You need Australian photo identification to apply.
Redirection is not a substitute for telling people you moved. It is the safety net that catches the ones you forget, and it is worth buying the longer term than you think you need, because the things that only arrive once a year are exactly the things you will not have thought of.
Arrange the utilities. Electricity, gas, water and internet all need a disconnection at the old address and a connection at the new one, and internet is the one with the longest lead time. Book the connection for the day before you move rather than the day of.
Take and photograph the meter readings at the old property on the day you leave. That photograph is the only thing that settles a disputed final bill.
Within days of moving
Your state or territory transport authority. This is the one with a real deadline. In New South Wales you must notify Transport for NSW of a change of address within 14 days, and the requirement applies to both your driver licence and your vehicle registration. Every state and territory has an equivalent obligation, so check yours rather than assuming the timeframe is the same.
It matters more than it sounds. Registration renewals, toll notices and infringement notices go to the address on the record, and not receiving one is not a defence.
Your bank, and anything with a card attached. Replacement cards go to the address on file. So do the letters about fraud.
Your insurer. Home and contents insurance is priced on the address, so it does not simply follow you. Contents in transit are often not covered by either the old policy or the new one, which is worth asking about before the truck is loaded rather than after.
Your employer. Payroll, superannuation and the group certificate all key off it.
Within a month
The electoral roll. The Australian Electoral Commission states plainly that when you move house you must update your enrolment details, and that you are eligible to enrol at the new address once you have lived there for at least one month. There is no benefit to waiting beyond that, and enrolment is compulsory.
Medicare, Centrelink and the ATO. These can be updated through myGov once, rather than separately, if the services are linked to your account. Doing it through myGov is the difference between one job and three.
Your child’s school. Schools hold an address for enrolment, emergency contact and catchment purposes, and those are three different records. Tell the office rather than the classroom teacher.
Your GP and any specialist. Referrals, results and recall letters go to the address on the file.
Your vet, and the pet registration. Companion animal registration in Australia is administered at state or council level and the registered address is the one used if your pet is found. Microchip registry details are separate again and are updated with the registry, not the vet. Both need doing.
Within a few months
- Superannuation fund, if it is not linked through myGov
- Private health insurance
- Any subscription with a physical delivery
- Roadside assistance
- Professional associations, unions, memberships
- The electoral roll for any state election commission that maintains its own roll
- Your will, and anyone holding a copy of it
The ones people actually forget
These are the ones that surface months later, usually at the worst moment.
- Anything that renews annually. Car insurance, registration, memberships and rates notices only arrive once, and usually after the redirection has expired
- Online shopping default addresses. Every account with a saved address will cheerfully send your order to the old house
- Two-factor recovery details tied to a landline you no longer have
- The person who holds your spare key
- Anyone you have named as an emergency contact somewhere, who now has an address for you that is wrong
Do it in one sitting
The efficient version is to block out an hour, open the myGov side first because it covers three, then work through your bank, insurer and transport authority, then the long tail.
The inefficient version is to do it one letter at a time as each misdirected envelope arrives, which is what happens to most households, and which is why the redirection is worth the money.
If you are moving out of a rental, the other clock running at the same time is the bond. Getting your bond back covers what the final inspection is actually assessing. If children are moving with you, moving house with kids covers the part of the move that is not administrative, and the first-night box covers the first twelve hours.
The one-page family week
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