How to change your address in Australia: complete checklist for every institution

Moving house in Australia involves far more address updates than most people expect going in. An ATO assessment notice, a bank card renewal, a vehicle registration renewal, a super fund statement -- each of these will still go to your old address unless you contact the sender directly. Miss one and you may not find out for weeks or months.

This guide is a complete, ordered checklist of every institution you need to notify when you change your address in Australia. We have ordered the steps by consequence: government bodies and financial institutions carry the highest risk if they send to the wrong address, so they come first. Utilities and personal subscriptions matter less but still create inconvenience.

Work through the list over two weeks. Do not try to do it all in a single session; the portals time out, documents need gathering, and some updates require follow-up. Seven focused sessions of 30 to 45 minutes each will get it done.

Before you start: set up a mail forwarding buffer

Even if you notify every institution on this list, mail will continue arriving at your old address for weeks. The ATO processes address changes within two business days, but a notice already queued for printing will still land at the old address. Share registries can take a fortnight to update. Magazines and supplier accounts can take longer still.

Set up a buffer before you begin notifying institutions. There are two practical options:

• Australia Post address redirect. Australia Post's paid redirect service forwards mail from your old address to your new one for up to 12 months. You set it up at auspost.com.au or at any Post Office branch. It catches most residential mail but does not cover registered mail or business accounts reliably.
• A virtual mailbox at HotSnail. If you want mail to go to a stable address that is not your new home during the transition, a virtual mailbox gives you a real Australian street address. When mail arrives, HotSnail staff scan it and you receive an email notification once each item is processed. You can read the contents, forward the physical item, or shred it from any device. This is particularly useful if your new address is not yet confirmed, if you are moving between rentals, or if you are temporarily overseas. See our digital nomad use case and our overseas setup guide for examples of how Australians use a virtual mailbox during transitions.

Whichever buffer you use, set it up first. Notifications to institutions take effect over different timeframes, and you want a safety net in place before you start.

Step 1: Government and regulatory bodies

Government correspondence carries the highest consequence for a missed update. An ATO compliance notice with a payment due date, or an amended assessment that sits at the wrong address for six weeks, can create a penalty situation that takes time to unwind. Work through these first.

1. Australian Taxation Office. Update via myGov at my.gov.au. Log in, select the Australian Taxation Office tile, then go to My profile, then Contact details, then Postal address. Changes take effect in the ATO's system within two business days. Your Tax File Number and account settings are not affected; only the correspondence address updates.
2. Medicare and Services Australia. Update in the same myGov session. Select the Medicare tile, then Personal details. This covers Medicare correspondence including card renewals and claims statements. If you also receive Centrelink payments, the Centrelink tile maintains a separate address record; update it in the same session.
3. Centrelink. If you receive any Centrelink payments -- JobSeeker, Family Tax Benefit, Parenting Payment, Age Pension, Disability Support Pension -- update your address via myGov before your next payment cycle. A missed update means correspondence about payment changes goes to the wrong address. For Age Pension recipients, a change of home address can also affect the assets test; notify your Services Australia payment adviser if you are moving between owned and rented accommodation.
4. Australian Electoral Commission. Federal electoral roll updates are done at aec.gov.au or via myGov if the AEC tile is linked to your account. State electoral rolls are separate; each state electoral commission maintains its own roll. You are legally required to update your federal electoral enrolment within eight weeks of moving. Missing the update means you will be enrolled at your old address for the next federal election.
5. Department of Veterans Affairs. If you or a household member receives DVA entitlements, notify DVA via myGov or by calling DVA's main line. DVA correspondence includes treatment entitlement notices and health card renewals.
6. NDIS. If you or a family member has an NDIS plan, update the address via the myNDIS participant portal or by calling the NDIA on 1800 800 110. Plan review correspondence and support coordination notices will continue to the address on file until updated.

Step 2: Financial institutions

Banks, super funds and share registries send correspondence that is not always available in digital form. Banks post replacement cards by default. Super funds post annual statements and exit documents. Share registries post dividend notices and annual reports.

1. Your bank or banks. Log in to each bank's online banking portal and update your address under profile or account settings. Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac and ANZ all support online address updates. If you have a home loan, verify that the lending account address also updates; mortgage correspondence sometimes routes separately from transaction account correspondence. If you have accounts at multiple banks, work through each one.
2. Superannuation funds. Log in to each fund's member portal and update your contact address. If you have more than one super fund, update each one separately. Some funds require a signed change of address form for certain account types; the fund's member portal will advise you if this applies. If a form is required, you can complete it, scan it yourself, and return it digitally -- or use a HotSnail virtual mailbox to receive and re-scan any confirmation correspondence.
3. Share registries. If you hold ASX-listed shares directly, not through a managed fund, those shares are registered through a share registry. The two largest are Computershare (computershare.com/au) and Link Market Services (linkmarketservices.com.au). Log in to each registry and update your postal address under account settings. While you are logged in, consider opting out of paper dividend notices; electronic notification is faster and removes the address-dependency entirely.
4. Financial advisers and accountants. Send a brief email to each. Most practitioners update their client records immediately on receiving written notification. Do not assume they will pick up your new address from your next tax return; their correspondence systems are independent of the ATO.
5. Insurers. Update all insurance policies: home and contents, car, life, income protection and any other policies. Your insurer holds your address for both correspondence and risk assessment purposes. A home and contents policy in particular ties the insured address to your premium; failing to update it can affect a claim if the policy address does not match the property address.
6. Private health insurer. Log in to the member portal and update your postal address. Private health insurers send annual tax certificates, premium change notices and fund rule updates by post.

Step 3: State government

Each Australian state and territory runs its own licensing and registration systems. Most states require you to update your driver licence address within 21 days of moving. This is a legal obligation in most jurisdictions, not just a courtesy.

1. Driver licence. Update via your state's online portal. In Queensland, use Transport and Main Roads (tmr.qld.gov.au). In New South Wales, use Service NSW. In Victoria, use VicRoads. In Western Australia, use DoT WA. In South Australia, use Service SA. In the ACT, use Access Canberra. In the Northern Territory, use the NT licensing portal. Most states support online updates; a small number of licence types require an in-person visit.
2. Vehicle registration. Vehicle registration is linked to your licence address in most states but maintained as a separate record in some. Check your most recent registration renewal notice to confirm whether the billing address needs separate notification.
3. State revenue office. If you pay land tax on an investment property, or if you have a pending state tax assessment, notify your state revenue office: Revenue NSW, the State Revenue Office Victoria, the Office of State Revenue in Queensland, or the equivalent in your state. Grant recipients under first-home buyer or stamp duty concession schemes should also verify that the correspondence address on those grants is current.
4. Council rates. If you own property at the address you are leaving and are retaining it as an investment, notify the local council to update the billing address for rates notices. If you are selling, the conveyancer handles the rates reconciliation at settlement; check with them whether you need to notify the council separately.

Step 4: Utilities and subscriptions

Utility accounts can generate billing correspondence, late payment notices, and contract renewal reminders that go to your old address. Work through each of the following and update your postal address in the provider's customer portal or by calling the accounts team:

• Electricity retailer (both the billing address and the supply address if you are moving service to the new property).
• Gas retailer, if separate from electricity.
• Water utility (in most states, billed through the local council; update the council at the same time as your rates notification).
• Internet and home phone provider. Update both the service address and the billing address; these are sometimes separate fields in the customer portal.
• Mobile phone provider (billing address only; mobile services are not address-bound).
• Streaming and subscription services (Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple, Google Play, Amazon). These rarely send physical mail, but some send renewal invoices, tax summaries or gift card redemption documents by post.

Step 5: Healthcare providers

Update your GP, dental practice, and any specialists you see regularly. Address records at a medical practice affect billing correspondence and referral acknowledgements. Bulk-billed practices generate less postal correspondence, but practices that send invoices or health fund claims documentation by post will send to the address on file.

If you use a pharmacy that dispenses repeat prescriptions, notify the pharmacy of your new address so their records are current, particularly if they offer home delivery or postal dispensing for ongoing medications.

Step 6: Professional and business

1. ASIC registered address. If you are a sole trader using a registered ASIC address, a company director, or a trustee, ASIC holds your address on the public register. Correspondence about annual company reviews, deregistration notices and regulatory letters goes to the registered address. Update via ASIC Connect at connect.asic.gov.au. Note that the registered office address and the principal place of business address are separate fields; update both if either has changed. A HotSnail virtual mailbox address is acceptable as an ASIC registered address for sole traders who prefer not to list a home address on the public register.
2. Australian Business Register (ABN). If you have an ABN as a sole trader, partnership or trust, update your business address on the ABR at abr.business.gov.au. The ABR address is publicly visible in the ABN lookup tool.
3. Employer and payroll. Notify your HR or payroll team. Payment summaries and income statements are increasingly delivered digitally via myGov, but some employers still post them, and payroll address records may be used for WorkCover or salary continuance correspondence.
4. Professional memberships and associations. Any professional body, union, trade association, or industry group that sends correspondence by post. Most have a member portal or a contact details page in their member area.

Step 7: Personal

• Family and close friends (a group message or email handles most of this at once).
• Schools and childcare centres. Update both the emergency contact record and any billing address if they are separate fields in the administration system.
• Club and society memberships: sporting clubs, hobby groups, alumni associations, and similar organisations that send physical newsletters or renewal invoices.
• Gym and fitness memberships (billing address for direct debit notifications and contract renewals).
• Subscription boxes, catalogues, and any retailer that sends a physical loyalty card, voucher book, or catalogue.

If you set up an Australia Post redirect at the start, make a note in your calendar to review it at the three-month mark. Check which senders are still routing through the redirect and contact them directly. Any sender still using the old address after three months needs a direct notification rather than continued reliance on the redirect.

Common mistakes to avoid

Updating only one address field. Most institutions maintain a separate correspondence address and a home address (or service address). Updating one does not automatically update the other. When you log in to each portal, look for both fields and check that both are current.

Assuming paperless preferences carry over. If you opted out of paper statements at an old account and have opened a new account at the same institution, paperless settings often reset to the default. Review each account's communication preferences when you update the address.

Forgetting dormant accounts. Old credit cards you rarely use, superannuation accounts you consolidated years ago, investment accounts that have been inactive for a period -- these still generate annual correspondence. Pull out last year's statement from each and verify the address when you update active accounts.

Leaving share registries until last. Share registries are the most commonly overlooked item on this list. An out-of-date address with a registry means dividend payments can go to a cheque at the old address (for registries still paying by cheque), and corporate action documents and annual reports go nowhere. During a corporate restructure, a company's registry can transfer from one provider to another without advance notice to shareholders; check your ASX investor portal periodically to confirm which registry holds each holding.

Not setting up the mail buffer before starting. Institutions update at different speeds. Without a buffer, mail will slip through to the old address during the transition window, sometimes for weeks after you have already moved and cleared out the old letterbox.

How long does it all take?

Most people find that the government and financial institution updates (Steps 1 and 2) take two to three hours spread across two evenings, partly because of login recovery, waiting for verification codes, and the occasional form that needs to be printed, signed, and returned. State government updates (Step 3) typically take 30 to 45 minutes if all portals are working. Steps 4 through 7 can be batched over a week of five-minute updates as you think of new institutions.

Set a reminder for 30 days after moving to run through the list one more time. Any institutions you missed in the first pass will probably have sent you something by then, either to the new address (if the Australia Post redirect caught it) or to the old address (if the previous occupant has been cooperative enough to forward it). Use whatever arrives in that 30-day window as a final audit of what still needs updating.

If you need a stable address during the move

If you are in a gap period -- sold your home but not yet settled on a new one, moving between rentals, or temporarily overseas -- you may not have a permanent address to update to. In that situation, a HotSnail virtual mailbox gives you a fixed Australian street address that works with banks, the ATO, ASIC, share registries, and other institutions that do not accept PO Boxes. You update all institutions to the HotSnail address, and mail arrives there regardless of where you physically are. You read it, forward what you need physically, and shred the rest from the members portal.

For more on how this works in practice, see our guide on managing mail when selling your home and moving house, or our overseas setup guide if you are leaving Australia for an extended period.