The manifestSix lines, one rule each
A shipping manifest lists every consignment on board. This one lists the six things a household meets when its address moves to another country, or back again. Each line opens a full page, and each page lists the government sources it was checked against at its foot.
| Line | What it covers | Direction | Checked against |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Bringing your belongings home | The B534 statement, and when household goods come in without duty or GST. | Coming home | Australian Border Force |
| 02 Biosecurity for household goods | What to leave out, how to clean and label the boxes, and how inspection is charged. | Coming home | Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry |
| 03 Taking a pet overseas | The export permit, step by step, and the planning that lets a cat or dog come back. | Both | Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry |
| 04 Tax residency when you leave | The residency tests, the part-year threshold, capital gains and study loans. | Leaving | Australian Taxation Office |
| 05 Telling government you’re leaving | Centrelink, Medicare, Child Support and the electoral roll, and when each wants to know. | Leaving | Services Australia and the AEC |
| 06 Your rights with an international removalist | Guarantees a contract can’t remove, checking the business, and what happens if it fails. | Both | ACCC |
Two lanesThe order things happen in
Some of these rules fall due before the truck arrives, some once you have gone, and some only when the boxes land back in Australia. Here are the ones with a date or a deadline attached, in the order a household meets them.
Outbound: leaving
- Up to 3 months beforeAn enrolled voter who intends to return within six years can register as an overseas elector from three months before leaving. Someone leaving for good lodges the AEC’s overseas notification form, no more than three months before departure.
- 10 working days beforeA pet’s Notice of Intention to export goes to the agriculture department’s regional office at least 10 working days before it leaves, or before any isolation starts.
- 72 hours beforeThe pet’s final health and welfare check by a registered vet falls within 72 hours of departure, unless the importing country sets another period.
- Within 7 days of leavingAnyone with a study or training loan who will live overseas for 183 days or more in any 12 months sends the ATO an overseas travel notification.
- By 31 October each yearThe same borrowers report their worldwide income, or lodge a non-lodgment advice, for the Australian income year.
Inbound: coming home
- Before you arriveFor the duty and GST concession on unaccompanied belongings, their transport has to be arranged before you reach Australia.
- When the goods landA B534 statement clears them. The Australian Border Force describes it as a legal declaration to both the ABF and the agriculture department.
- Before releaseThe ABF can’t release the goods until the agriculture department has assessed them, inspected them if needed, and cleared them.
- After 5 years awayAn Australian citizen re-enrolling in Medicare gives two documents showing the family now lives here. One may come from the country they left, and proof of moving household goods or furniture is on the list.
About this guideWhat these pages are
Overseas removals is a guide to moving a household out of Australia or back home again, written and published by Dotto. It covers the government side of an international move: customs, biosecurity, pets, tax, the services that need to know you have gone, and the consumer law that applies to the business doing the moving.
Every rule here comes from a government page, linked in the list of sources at the foot of the page it appears on. Rules and fees change, so check the agency’s own page close to moving day.