Moving checklist for Brisbane

The interstate moving checklist for families relocating to Brisbane — everything worth doing, in the order it needs doing, from choosing a corridor to your first month on the ground. Print it, or work through it a stage at a time.

01

Three to six months out

  • Pick your corridor before your suburb — north, inner east, inner south, west, bayside or the growth corridors.
  • Shortlist two or three schools and request their enrolment timelines in writing.
  • Work out whether you're renting first or buying, and set your one-off moving budget.
  • Check flood overlays and 2011/2022 history for any street you're serious about.
  • Get quotes from two interstate removalists and ask about transit insurance.
02

Six to eight weeks out

  • Lodge school applications and pay any enrolment deposits.
  • Book short-stay accommodation for the gap between arriving and moving in.
  • Start rental applications, or brief a buyer's agent if you can't inspect repeatedly.
  • Line up a building and pest inspector and a Queensland conveyancer.
  • Book the removalist and confirm access and parking at both ends.
03

The final fortnight

  • Arrange electricity, gas, internet and contents insurance from your move-in date.
  • Redirect mail and update your address with banks, super, insurers and the ATO.
  • Confirm bond and advance rent, or settlement funds and cheque details.
  • Organise pet transport, and a plan for the first night's essentials box.
  • Photograph your existing home's condition report before you hand back the keys.
04

The first month here

  • Transfer your driver licence and vehicle registration to Queensland.
  • Update Medicare, register with a local GP, dentist and vet.
  • Get a go card and drive the school run and the work commute in peak hour.
  • Join a club, a Saturday sport or a surf lifesaving group — this is what makes it stick.
  • Revisit whether your suburb still suits before you commit to buying.

Free printable PDF

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Want to talk it through?

Half an hour with someone local usually saves a wasted trip. Ask about corridors, schools, timing or what your budget really buys.