What it costs by home size
Indicative totals inc GST. Your actual number comes from the volume you're moving, so these map directly onto the standard home sizes.
| Home size | Volume | Price inc GST | What that is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 8 m³ | $1,000 | Bed, sofa, desk, ten boxes |
| 1-bed apt | 16 m³ | $2,000 | Queen bed, sofa, dining set, fridge |
| 2-bed homeMost common | 26 m³ | $3,250 | Two bedrooms, lounge, dining, white goods |
| 3-bed home | 36 m³ | $4,500 | Three bedrooms, study, full kitchen |
| 4-bed home | 50 m³ | $6,250 | Family home, multiple living areas |
Inner-Brisbane apartment moves — New Farm, Teneriffe, West End — mostly land between $1,900 and $3,150, because they're 1–2 bedroom setups. If you're not sure where you sit, add up your cubic metres first.
Why this lane is cheap and easy
Daily departures are the whole story. Sydney–Brisbane carries enough freight in both directions that there's a truck with spare space nearly every day, which means pickup windows of 3–5 business days from booking and very little of the 'wait for next week's run' problem that longer lanes have.
It also means the flexibility discount is easy money here. Take a ±1 week window and 10% comes off the linehaul automatically, because with daily trucks we can almost always find a departure that's running half-empty. On a 2-bedroom move that's about $310 for accepting a date range you probably had anyway.
Transit is one to two days depending on the run and on Pacific Highway traffic. Mid-week pickups beat Friday and Saturday ones — the highway carries heavy holiday traffic into the weekend and it costs you hours, not dollars, but hours matter on moving day.
- Daily trucks — 3–5 business day pickup window, same-week capacity common
- ±1 week flexibility = 10% off automatically
- Mid-week pickups avoid Pacific Highway holiday traffic
- 15% deposit to book, balance on delivery
Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and beyond
A large share of this lane never stops in Brisbane. Retirees head to Maroochydore and Noosa; younger movers land in Surfers and Burleigh.
Anywhere within 150 km of Brisbane is a flat $120 last-mile add-on — so a 2-bedroom move to the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Noosa or Burleigh lands about $3,150 plus that $120. Meaningfully cheaper than paying a separate local removalist to meet the truck. The one rule: declare the real destination at quote time. Re-routing a load that's already on the deck is the expensive way to do this.
Delivery into Brisbane itself is worth scheduling outside 7–9am and 4–6pm. City traffic on either side of those windows can turn a 90-minute unload into a half-day.
Flooding, cyclones and the honest answer
What that means practically is that if you're moving between December and April, build a flex window into your plan — don't schedule the removalist to arrive the same afternoon your lease starts. That's good advice on any lane and essential on this one.
What can't come with you
NSW into Queensland has real biosecurity rules on fresh fruit and vegetables. Don't pack pantry produce — eat it, or give it to a neighbour. Potted plants in soil can't cross the border either, on any truck, with any company. Gas bottles, fuel and anything flammable stay off the deck for obvious reasons. The full prohibited list is here.