Planning your move
Change of address checklist: who to tell when you move house
Quick answer: Set up Australia Post mail redirection about two weeks before you move. Then update the ATO, Medicare and Centrelink in one go through myGov, and your licence and car registration with your state, both within 14 days (21 in WA). Update the electoral roll once you've lived there a month, then banks, insurers, utilities and everyone else.
A tickable list of who to tell, when, and the official page for each, with the state deadlines for your licence and registration.
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Redirecting your mail is not the same as changing your address
Mail redirection forwards post sent to your old address for a set period, from 1 to 12 months. It doesn't change your address on anyone's records, so every account still needs updating before the redirection runs out.
Australia Post mail redirection forwards eligible letters and parcels from your old address to your new one for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months. You'll need proof of identity to apply, and you can include up to 6 names, so one application can cover your household.
Think of it as a safety net. Your bank, insurer and council still have the old address, and some mail never goes through the post at all. Emails, texts and online accounts aren't redirected.
Use the redirection period to catch who you missed. Each time a forwarded letter arrives, update that sender, then tick it off below. When the forwarded post stops, your records are up to date.
When you apply, Australia Post also offers to pass your new address to selected organisations, such as insurers and energy providers. It's opt-in, and it doesn't cover everyone, so treat it as a head start rather than the whole job.
Three places do most of the work
Australia Post for your mail, myGov for the ATO, Medicare and Centrelink, and your state's transport agency for your licence and car registration. Do those three and the rest is a list of phone calls and logins.
- myGov: update your address in your myGov profile and choose which linked services to share it with. The ATO lets you share the update with other linked government services at the same time. Services Australia asks you to update your address within 14 days of moving, even if you don't get a payment.
- Your state: each state and the ACT sets its own deadline for your licence and registration. It's 14 days everywhere in the table below except WA, which allows 21.
- The electoral roll: the AEC asks that you've lived at the new address for at least one month before you update. One update covers federal elections and any relevant state and local elections.
If you're moving out of a rental, the list doesn't stop at the paperwork. The moving out checklist covers notice, the clean, the final inspection and your bond.
The change of address checklist
Start with the things that need a date, like redirection and utilities, then work through government, money and everyone else once you've moved. Enter your moving day and each stage shows its own dates.
Each stage then shows its own dates. Kept on this device only.
Every step in this view is ticked. Untick ‘Hide steps I’ve ticked’ to see them again.
2 to 3 weeks before
The jobs that need a start date.
Choose 1, 3, 6 or 12 months. You'll need proof of identity, and you can add up to 6 names.
Book both for moving day so you're not paying for the old home or arriving to no power.
Ask your provider whether the new address needs a technician visit, and book it early.
If water is billed to you, arrange a final reading for the home you're selling and update the account for the new one.
The week of the move
So the bond paperwork, any claim and any later notice reach you, not the empty home.
Tell your insurer the date you move so contents are covered at the new home from moving day. Owners: check when building cover must start for the home you've bought.
Change the default delivery address before you order anything else.
The first week after
Government first, then money and work.
Your myGov profile can share the change with your linked services in one step. Services Australia asks for it within 14 days.
Share the update from your myGov profile, or change it in ATO online services or the ATO app for the ATO only.
Through myGov, or the Medicare and Centrelink online accounts. If you get a payment and you're renting, updating online lets them assess you for Rent Assistance.
Every account, including ones you rarely use. Cards are sent to the address on file.
Each fund separately, if you have more than one.
Insurers ask where the car is kept, so your premium may change. Tell them before you need to claim.
Each insurer separately.
Payment summaries and work letters go to the address on file.
Within 14 days: licence and registration (21 days in WA)
One update with your state's transport agency usually covers your licence and your vehicle registration.
Within 14 days. One change covers your licence and vehicle registrations, and your CTP details update with the registration.
Within 14 days. Fines sent to your old address are still taken to have reached you.
Within 14 days, no fee. Every TMR product in your name updates, and a label for your licence arrives within 21 days.
Within 21 days, no fee. You'll get a sticker for the back of your licence.
Within 14 days. Use a browser, not the app. It covers your licence and vehicle registrations.
Within 14 days for an ACT licence or ACT-registered vehicle.
In the first few weeks
Including any clinic that posts referrals or reminders.
Enrolment records, emergency contacts, and bus or zone details if they change.
The microchip is only useful if the address and phone number on the registry are current.
If you've moved council area, check how your new council handles registration.
Toll notices and account letters go to the address on file.
Streaming, gyms, magazines, clubs, and anything billed to a card at your old address.
Trade, health and other occupational registers usually ask you to keep your address current.
For the home you've bought, and a final notice address for the one you've sold.
One message to everyone, with the full address and postcode.
After a month at the new address
The AEC asks that you've lived at the new address for at least one month. One update covers federal elections and any relevant state and local elections.
Update each sender. If you need longer, extending can take up to 3 business days, so don't leave it to the last day.
Deadlines are as each official page stated them on 5 October 2026. Moving interstate is a different process: you transfer your licence and registration to the new state, so check its transport agency's page.
State licence and registration: where to update
Every state and the ACT on this list gives you 14 days to update your licence and registration address, except WA, which gives 21. Changing your address is free in Queensland and WA, as their official pages state.
| State | Agency | What it updates | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Service NSW (MyServiceNSW Account) | Driver licence and vehicle registrations in one go; CTP details follow the registration | Within 14 days |
| Vic | VicRoads (myVicRoads) | Licence and vehicle registration | Within 14 days of moving |
| Qld | Department of Transport and Main Roads | Every TMR product in your name, including your licence and vehicle registrations; no fee | Within 14 days |
| WA | Department of Transport (DoTDirect) | Driver's licence and vehicle licence (registration); no fee | Within 21 days |
| SA | Service SA (mySA GOV, in a browser) | Licence, permits, proof of age card and vehicle registrations | Within 14 days |
| ACT | Access Canberra | ACT driver licence and ACT-registered vehicles | Within 14 days |
Read on 5 October 2026. The Victorian deadline is from Fines Victoria, because the VicRoads page refused our automated check. Tasmania and the NT aren't listed because we don't clean there. Sources are listed at the end of this guide. Checked 5 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Questions people ask
Who do I need to notify when I move house?
Start with Australia Post mail redirection, then myGov (which can pass the change to the ATO, Medicare and Centrelink), your state's transport agency for your licence and registration, and the electoral roll. After that: banks, super, insurers, utilities, your employer, health providers, schools, your pet's microchip registry, subscriptions and friends. Renters should also give the old agent a forwarding address.
How much does mail redirection cost, and how long does it run?
Australia Post's personal redirection within Australia starts at $40.50 for up to a month, with longer periods of 3, 6 or 12 months, under prices that took effect on 1 July 2026. Concession rates are lower. Apply a couple of weeks before you move so it's running when you leave, and check Australia Post's page for the current price.
Do I need to update my address with the ATO if I use myGov?
Not separately, if you update your address in your myGov profile and choose to share it with the ATO as a linked service. If you change it inside ATO online services or the ATO app, that updates the ATO only, so do Medicare and Centrelink as well.
Do I have to update my driver licence when I move?
Yes. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT you must update your address within 14 days; in WA it's 21 days. One update usually covers your vehicle registration too.
Does the AEC update my enrolment automatically?
Sometimes. The AEC can update enrolments using information from other agencies, such as driver licence authorities, Centrelink and the ATO, and writes to you when it does. But keeping your enrolment up to date is still your responsibility, so update it yourself once you've lived at the new address for a month.
I'm renting. What address do I give my old agent?
Your new home address, or a postal address you'll keep, in writing before you hand back the keys. That's where the bond paperwork, any claim and any later notice will go. Keep your details current with your state's bond authority too.
When you're ready
Moving out of a rental?
The paperwork can wait a week; the end-of-lease clean can't. Get a fixed price for your home and choose a time after the removalists leave. Nothing is booked or paid at this step.
Still planning the whole move? The moving out checklist
Sources
The laws, regulators and services this guide relies on, with the date we read each one.
- Mail redirection, Australia Post. Read 5 October 2026. Redirection for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months; up to 6 names; proof of identity; opt-in notification of selected organisations; personal price from $40.50 (prices updated from 1 July 2026); extensions can take up to 3 business days.
- Mail redirection and mail hold, Australia Post. Read 5 October 2026. Overview of redirection, mail hold and extending a service.
- Update my details, Australian Electoral Commission. Read 5 October 2026. Update once you have lived at the address for at least one month; covers federal elections and relevant state and local elections.
- Direct Enrolment and Update, Australian Electoral Commission. Read 5 October 2026. The AEC can update enrolment from other agencies' data (driver licence authorities, Centrelink, the ATO, Home Affairs) and writes to you first; keeping enrolment current remains your responsibility.
- myGov, Australian Government. Read 5 October 2026. Sign-in for updating contact details across linked services.
- Update your personal contact details, Australian Taxation Office. Read 5 October 2026. Updating through myGov can share the change with other linked services; ATO online services and the ATO app update the ATO only.
- Changing your address, Services Australia. Read 5 October 2026. Update your address within 14 days, even without a payment; myGov sends the update to some linked services; renters with a payment are assessed for Rent Assistance when they update online.
- Change address with NSW Government, Service NSW. Read 5 October 2026. One change covers the driver licence and vehicle registrations; CTP details update with the registration.
- Changing your name or address, Transport for NSW. Read 5 October 2026. New address within 14 days of moving house.
- Update your address, VicRoads. Read 5 October 2026. Linked for the online update. The page refused automated requests (403) when we checked, so the deadline is taken from Fines Victoria.
- Have you changed your address recently?, Fines Victoria (2024-08-13). Read 5 October 2026. By law, update your address with VicRoads within 14 days of moving; fines sent to the registered address are taken to be received.
- Update your address or personal details on your licence, Queensland Government. Read 5 October 2026. Within 14 days; all TMR products in your name update; no fee; a label arrives within 21 days.
- Change my address, Department of Transport (WA). Read 5 October 2026. Within 21 days; covers driver's licence and vehicle licence; change of address sticker; no fee to change an address.
- Update your details with Service SA, Government of South Australia. Read 5 October 2026. Within 14 days, through mySA GOV in a browser; covers licences, permits and vehicle registrations.
- Update your contact details, Access Canberra. Read 5 October 2026. ACT driver licence or ACT-registered vehicle: notify address changes within 14 days.
General information, not legal advice. Tenancy law differs by state and changes; check the official source for your state before you act.