Shipping your belongings to Australia
Shipping a home’s worth of belongings to Australia takes around two to three months door to door. The part that catches people out is biosecurity: anything with soil, seeds or insects on it can be held, treated at your cost or destroyed.
In 30 seconds
- Sea freight usually takes 6–12 weeks, so plan to live out of suitcases for a while
- Clean everything that has been outdoors (shoes, bikes, garden tools, tents) before it is packed
- Fill in the B534 customs form. Things you have owned and used for 12 months or more generally come in without duty or GST
How long it takes and what it costs
Belongings go by sea, either in a container of your own or as a “part load”, sharing a container with others. Prices below are from one UK removals firm’s 2026 guide, so get your own quotes. Estimate
| Option | Typical size | Price from | Sea time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part load (shared container) | Up to about 15 cubic metres | £620 to £2,350 | 8–12 weeks |
| 20ft container | About 28–33 cubic metres | £4,780 | 6–9 weeks |
| 40ft container | About 60–76 cubic metres | £7,585 | 6–9 weeks |
Add time at both ends for packing, customs and biosecurity checks. You may want to pack essentials in your luggage, or rent furnished at first: see Finding a home to rent.
Biosecurity: clean before you pack
Australia’s Department of Agriculture often inspects household goods. You pay for the inspection time, and for any treatment such as fumigation or heat treatment. If goods can’t be treated, you can send them back or have them destroyed.
| Item | What to do |
|---|---|
| Shoes and boots, especially walking and sports shoes | Scrub off all soil and plant matter |
| Bikes | Clean tyres, frame and chain of mud and grass |
| Garden tools and lawnmowers | Clean thoroughly. Consider leaving them behind |
| Camping gear (tents, groundsheets, backpacks) | Clean and dry; shake out seeds and insects |
| Outdoor furniture and toys | Clean, and pack together so they are easy to inspect |
| Wooden furniture | Check for small holes or powdery dust, signs of wood-boring insects |
| Vacuum cleaner | Empty and clean the bag or bin |
What you can’t send
- Fresh fruit and vegetables
- Live plants, bulbs and tubers
- Prohibited and restricted seeds
- Soil, or anything with soil or organic residue on it
- Unprocessed plant or animal products
- Weapons and drugs: declare or leave behind
Some packaged foods are allowed, but rules are strict: check BICON (the department’s import conditions database), or simply don’t pack food. Alcohol and tobacco must be declared and may be taxed. See Laws that catch people out for what to declare when you fly.
The customs form (B534)
For anything shipped separately, you fill in the Unaccompanied Personal Effects Statement, form B534, from the Australian Border Force. The Department of Agriculture asks for a packing list that records what is in each box, with boxes labelled (for example “Box 1 of 12”). You complete and sign the form yourself. You can then clear the goods yourself or nominate someone to do it for you, such as your removals firm, a freight forwarder, a customs broker, a friend or a relative.
- Declare goods you have owned for less than 12 months: the form says these are assessed for duty and taxes, such as GST (Australia’s 10% goods and services tax)
- The form doesn’t say goods you have owned for longer are automatically free of duty and GST, so check your own case with your removals firm or the Australian Border Force
- The form also asks you to declare food, plant material, animal products, alcohol, tobacco, medicines, firearms and weapons, vehicles and boats, goods for business use, and cash of A$10,000 or more (Australian or foreign currency)
Bringing a car
You need an import approval from the Department of Infrastructure before the car is shipped. It is an offence to import a road vehicle without one.
| Rule (personal effects route) | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ownership | You owned it continuously for at least 12 months immediately before you first arrived in Australia |
| Visa | You are a citizen or permanent resident, have applied for permanent residence, or hold a visa that lets you stay indefinitely |
| Timing | Apply within 6 months of first arriving in Australia |
| Fee | A$50 application fee plus a levy (A$7.20 for a passenger car) |
| Taxes | Customs duty, 10% GST and, above a price threshold, 33% luxury car tax may apply |
| Cleaning | The car must be spotless inside and out, including underneath |
Australia drives on the left like the UK, but a right-hand-drive UK car still needs state registration and checks after arrival. For most people, selling in the UK and buying in Australia is simpler: see Driving in Australia.
What to do next
- Get three removals quotes and ask what is included at the Australian end
- Clean outdoor items before the packers arrive
- Keep a box-by-box packing list for the B534 form
- Anglo Pacific (removals firm): The cost of moving to Australia from the UK in 2026
- Department of Agriculture: Moving to Australia or importing personal effects/household goods
- Department of Agriculture: Preparing your personal effects for shipment to Australia
- Australian Border Force: Unaccompanied Personal Effects Statement (form B534)
- Australian Border Force: Licensed customs brokers (fact sheet)
- Australian Border Force: Importing a motor vehicle
- Department of Infrastructure: Importing a vehicle as personal effects (overview)