Most local moves in an Australian capital city are charged by the hour for a crew and a truck. So the real question is not how far you are going. It is how long the job will take. A small, well packed two bedroom apartment with lift access can cost less than a cluttered one bedroom up three flights of stairs.
Typical price ranges
Pick your home size below to see the benchmark range for a local move with two movers and a truck, then tick anything that applies to see which end of the range you are likely to land on.
Home size
Anything tricky?
Typical local move in an Australian capital
$650 to $1,100
Two movers and a truck, about 4 to 6 hours
Easy access and a weekday usually lands in the lower half.
Benchmark ranges only. Your quote is based on your actual rooms and addresses.
Interstate moves work differently. They are priced by how much space you take up on the truck and which route you are on. Our Australian moving cost data has benchmarks for the main corridors.
What moves the number
- How much you own. This is the big one. More furniture and more boxes means more trips to the truck.
- Access. Stairs, a slow lift, a long driveway or no parking out the front all add time at both ends.
- Heavy and awkward items. Pianos, pool tables, stone tables and big fridges need more hands and more care.
- When you move. Weekends, the first and last days of the month and December to January are the busiest slots.
Why quotes blow out on the day
Almost every bad moving day starts the same way. Someone described their home over the phone, forgot the garage and the balcony, and the crew turned up to a bigger job than they were told about. The quote was accurate for the home that was described. It just was not the home that needed moving.
That is the problem MOVA was built around. Instead of asking you to list everything from memory, you point your phone at each room and MOVA reads what is actually there.
Tap the dotsSofa
Large item, a two person lift
1 of 5 items found
Illustration of a room scan.
Five ways to pay less
- Declutter first. Everything you sell or donate is something nobody has to carry.
- Be fully packed before the crew arrives. Loose items are slow items.
- Move on a weekday in the middle of the month if you can.
- Book the lift and sort parking at both addresses ahead of time.
- Give your mover the full picture up front, so the quote matches the job.
