Change of address checklist

Moving house can be a highly stressful experience, and it’s not easy to keep track of who to notify of your move. You need to arrange the packing of your possessions, find a removalist, manage your expenses, and many other things.

Changing your address is probably low on your list of priorities, but it’s an essential aspect of moving house and will help you settle into your new home. You need to contact several people and organisations about the change in address. To help, we’ve done the heavy lifting. Here’s our checklist of who to notify and when.

Personal

It’s a good idea to inform your personal connections well before the move. You can simply send out an email or text message with your new address and the date of the move to all your contacts including:

1. Parents
2. Siblings
3. Aunties, uncles and cousins
4. Distant relatives
5. Neighbours (they can forward mail if needed)
6. Friends
7. Friends of your children
8. Any business associates and connections

A time effective way of doing this is to create a list of names, add the email addresses to the list and send a bulk email to all your personal connections.

Subscriptions

The next step is to either cancel or change the address on any subscriptions you may have. They can include:

1. Magazines
2. Store memberships
3. Airline loyalty programs
4. Newspapers
5. Catalogues
6. Any postal subscription services like DVDs, health boxes, beauty boxes, etc.

Vehicle

If you intend to take your car with you to your new location or even new state, all changes to vehicle-related documentation should occur a few weeks before you’re moving house. You’ll need to update your driver’s license, even if you don’t intend to take your vehicle with you.

1. Driver’s license
2. Car insurance
3. Car registration
4. Maintenance service contracts
5. Car companies if your vehicle is still under warranty
6. E-tag or toll membership

Healthcare

Your doctors and related medical practitioners will need to update your personal information and possibly transfer your medical records, so you’ll need to give them a head’s up about your move. Ensure you inform the following medical practitioners, where applicable, about your change of address:

1. Dentist
2. General practitioner
3. Paediatrician
4. Optometrist
5. Specialist healthcare providers
6. Vet

Utilities

You will need to cancel subscriptions to utilities, change your address, and transfer the services to the new owner. Make sure you settle all bills before you change the address.

1. Subscription television, e.g. Foxtel
2. Gas
3. Electricity
4. Phone (both landline and mobile)
5. Internet
6. Water
7. Australia Post office (so they can redirect post if needed)

Finance

The next step is to contact all financial institutions and inform them about the change of address. Different institutions will have different requirements.

1. Banks
2. Bonds, stocks, and shares
3. Pension
4. Loan organisations and lenders
5. Credit card companies
6. Brokerage firms
7. Superannuation funds
8. Accountants, and anyone who helps you manage your finances

Education

If you or anyone in your family attends an educational institution, you need to inform the school/college/university about the change of address as well.

1. Your child’s school so they can forward any paperwork or communication as needed
2. College and universities
3. Afterschool programs or early learning programs
4. Extracurricular classes like art, music, dance, drama, etc.

Employment

Even if you resign from your job, it’s a good idea to give your previous employer a way to communicate with you. You should also think about informing these people about your change of address:

1. Former employers
2. Colleagues
3. Business associates
4. Long-term customers and clients
5. Employees or subordinates

Government organisations

You need to inform the government about your change of address as well. You will need to download forms from relevant government websites and make the changes.

1. Australian Taxation Office
2. Australian Electoral Commission
3. Concession cards
4. Department of Human Services, including Child Support, Medicare, Centrelink, etc.
5. Seniors cards
6. Department of Veterans’ Affairs
7. Local councils
8. DonateLife
9. Local library

Insurance

Most people have several insurance policies in their name, including the vehicle insurance policy previously mentioned. You need to update your address on all of them, including:

1. Health insurance
2. Life insurance
3. Home and contents insurance

Social

If you are a part of different institutions and organisations in a social capacity, you need to contact them and either cancel your membership, transfer it to a different branch, or change your address. These organisations include:

1. Gyms or health clubs
2. Charities
3. Churches
4. State Volunteer organisations
5. Local clubs
6. Sports club
7. Unions and professional organisations

 Legal service providers

Your legal representatives should be able to contact you, even if you are no longer using their services.

1. Personal lawyer
2. Business or corporate lawyer related to work
3. Property lawyer or conveyancer, who handled the sale and purchase of your homes

Miscellaneous

There are several other people and organisations that might need to contact you based on your lifestyle and responsibilities. They can include:

1. Tenants or property managers of any rental properties
2. Home maintenance services like lawn or garden maintenance
3. Store loyalty cards from Coles, Woolworths, Qantas, David Jones, etc.
4. Security systems like home alarms

It’s a good idea to start ticking items off the list a few weeks before you start moving house, as it can be stressful to change the address in so many places at once. Start with who to notify first, such as friends and family before you move on to organisations, government departments, schools, and other such institutions. You can add items to the list and print it out to make the process easier. Most private and state government institutions have the change of address instructions on their websites and provide appropriate forms for you to complete.