The items removalists will not move fall into three groups: dangerous goods such as gas bottles, fuel, paint, pool chemicals and ammunition; things that are illegal or a biosecurity risk, like plants carrying fire ants; and personal valuables that should ride with you, including cash, jewellery, documents and medication. Most other things can go on the truck with the right notice. Here is how it works in practice, and what to do with everything that stays off.
Key takeaways
Removalists in Queensland generally will not carry dangerous goods: full or partly full gas bottles, petrol and other fuels, paint, solvents, pool chemicals, fireworks, ammunition and firearms that have not been disclosed. Cash, jewellery, passports, title deeds, medication and laptops should travel in your own car rather than on the removal truck. Potted plants and soil from a fire ant biosecurity zone need to meet Biosecurity Queensland rules before they move. Very heavy or specialist items, such as grand pianos, can be excluded or need notice at the quote stage. Tell your removalist about anything unusual when you book, not on the day.
What are the items removalists will not move?
Our crews out of the Archerfield and Cairns City depots get asked this every week, usually on the phone the night before a move. The short answer is that a removal truck is a closed box full of timber, fabric, cardboard and foam. Anything that can leak, ignite, corrode or explode has no business being in there, and nobody wants to find that out at 14:00 on the Bruce Highway with the back roller door shut and the load sitting in the sun.
Under the R2G terms and conditions, you confirm when you book that your goods do not include firearms or anything dangerous, corrosive, highly combustible, explosive or noxious, or anything likely to attract vermin or pests, unless you told us when the job was placed. That is a common position across the industry. In practice, these are the things a crew will leave on the driveway:
- Gas bottles off the barbecue, patio heater or camping stove, full or partly full
- Petrol, diesel, two-stroke mix and the fuel still sitting in the mower, whipper snipper or outboard
- Paint, paint thinners, turpentine, solvents and aerosol cans in bulk
- Pool chlorine, acid and other pool or garden chemicals
- Fireworks, flares, ammunition and any undisclosed firearms
- Damaged, swollen or leaking batteries, including e-bike and scooter packs
- Open food, perishables and anything that will rot or attract pests in transit
None of this is about being difficult. It is about the crew, your furniture and the other loads on a shared interstate truck. A single leaking pool chlorine bucket can strip the finish off a dining table and leave the whole truck smelling like a public pool for a week.
Why won't removalists take gas bottles?
Gas bottles are the item we turn away most often, mainly on Brisbane's southside and in the outer suburbs like Springfield Lakes and Logan where nearly every house has a barbecue on the back deck. LPG is heavier than air, and a slow leak from a valve that has not been closed properly will pool along the floor of a closed truck body.
Resources Safety and Health Queensland says it plainly in its safety notice on transporting LP gas cylinders: most removalist companies will not transport gas cylinders. It suggests using a gas supplier's exchange system, where you surrender the cylinder and get a voucher for a replacement at the other end, or having an empty cylinder certified as gas free by a supplier or an approved test station if you want to keep it.
Moving the bottle yourself is allowed, within limits. The Queensland Government's guide to safe transport of cylinders says not to carry a cylinder larger than 9 kilograms in an enclosed vehicle, to carry no more than two cylinders of 9 kilograms or less at a time, and to secure each one upright, preferably in the boot, with a plug firmly fitted in the POL valve. A ute tray with a ratchet strap is a better option than the back seat of a sedan.
Gas bottle checklist for moving day
Turn the valve off and disconnect the regulator the night before. Fit a POL plug if you have one. Decide whether you are swapping the bottle at a servo or carrying it yourself, and if you carry it, keep it upright, strapped and out of the cabin where you can. Bottles larger than 9 kilograms should not go in an enclosed car at all.
What about fuel, paint and pool chemicals?
The shed and the garage are where most of the trouble hides. A typical three-bedroom lowset in Carindale or Chermside will have a jerry can, two or three half-empty paint tins, a bucket of pool chlorine and a cupboard of sprays nobody has looked at since the last owner. All of it stays off the truck.
Mowers, whipper snippers, generators and outboard motors can usually come, but only once the fuel is drained and the engine has run dry. A crew loading at 07:00 will ask about it, and a mower that still sloshes when it is tilted onto a dolly will be put aside. Hose off the soil while you are at it, because dirt packed under the deck is how pests and seeds travel.
For the rubbish you do not want to take, Brisbane City Council's hazardous waste disposal page lists what its four resource recovery centres take any day of the year, including batteries, empty gas bottles, fluorescent globes, motor oil, and paint and solvents. Paint is accepted up to 100 litres per visit in containers of no more than 20 litres, and empty gas bottles up to 9 kilograms, six per visit. Pool chemicals, petrol and garden chemicals go to the free household hazardous waste drop-off days instead, in their original containers and not mixed. Cairns residents should check Cairns Regional Council's transfer station rules, which are set separately.
Can removalists move pot plants in Queensland?
Often, yes, but Queensland adds a layer most people do not know about until the truck is booked. Much of South East Queensland sits inside the fire ant biosecurity zones, and soil and potted plants are classed as high-risk material for carrying fire ants.
The National Fire Ant Eradication Program's guidance on managing potted plants says it is an offence to move a live fire ant from a property. Potted plants can only move within, across or out of the zones if they have been treated and stored correctly, are going directly to an approved waste facility, have been at the property for less than 24 hours, or have been bare-rooted for repotting at the new place. The program also asks you to keep records of treatment for at least two years.
Our terms are direct on this point: if we transport pot plants that have fire ants or nests in them, the customer carries the cost of dealing with them, including truck fumigation and fines. So check both addresses on the program's zone tool before moving day. For moves across the border, read our guide to moving plants interstate, because the destination state adds its own entry rules.
Which valuables should you keep with you instead?
This is the group people forget, because nothing here is dangerous. It is simply too valuable, too personal or too hard to replace to go into the back of a truck with forty boxes of kitchen gear. Our terms recommend you pack and carry jewellery and valuables yourself rather than have our packers handle them, and they ask for written notice before the move of high-value fragile items, precious objects, art, money and collections.
Pack a single bag or a small plastic tub that goes in your car and nowhere else. On most of the Brisbane and Cairns jobs we run, these are the things that belong in it:
- Cash, jewellery, watches and anything sentimental you could not replace
- Passports, birth certificates, wills, title deeds and the folder of settlement paperwork
- Prescription medication and a few days of essentials
- Laptops, hard drives, phones and their chargers
- House keys, garage remotes, the bond paperwork and the new lease
Writing these down on your moving inventory list under a separate heading makes it obvious on the day which boxes the crew should leave alone. Mark the tub DO NOT LOAD in large letters and put it in the car boot before anyone arrives.
Are there big or specialist items removalists refuse?
Some items are not dangerous but sit outside what a standard house crew and truck are set up for. Our terms say we do not move grand pianos or pianolas, and we do not move commercial pool tables or tables heavier than approximately 350 kilograms. Other items need notice so the right crew and equipment turn up: double door or commercial fridges, uprights and organs, marble, glass or acrylic pieces, fish tanks and animal enclosures, anything over 100 kilograms, and anything longer than 3 metres.
A slate pool table, for example, is a job in its own right, because it has to be dismantled and the slates crated before it goes anywhere. Our guide to moving a pool table in Brisbane covers why it gets quoted separately. Fish tanks must be drained, and fish should travel with you in a bucket or bag, never on the truck.
“The worst moving days are not caused by heavy furniture. They are caused by the gas bottle, the fuel can or the fish tank nobody mentioned until the crew was standing in the garage at 15:30.”
, R2G Moving Team
Will removalists move items into storage that they would not put on a truck?
No, and the storage rules are tighter, not looser. Goods can sit in a storage unit for months, often through a Queensland summer, so anything that can leak, rot or attract pests becomes a much bigger problem. Our storage terms say you must not store goods that are hazardous, illegal, stolen, explosive, environmentally harmful or perishable, and they also exclude currency, jewellery, deeds, works of art and items of personal sentimental value.
Before you book storage in Brisbane, empty the fridge and freezer and leave the doors propped open, drain the mower, and leave the chemicals at a council drop-off. In Cairns, humidity is the other enemy, so anything damp should be dry before it goes into a storage unit anywhere in Cairns.
What happens if the crew finds a dangerous item on the day?
They put it aside and tell you. Our terms give the crew the right to refuse work they believe is a safety risk, and that includes loading a fuel can or a gas bottle someone has quietly wrapped in a towel. The item stays at the old address for you to deal with, and the move carries on.
The cost is time. A crew waiting while someone drains a mower or runs a gas bottle to a neighbour is a crew on the clock. Sorting the shed a week out, and listing the awkward items when you ask for a quote, is the cheapest fix there is. If you are short on time, our Brisbane packing team can pack the house, but they will still leave dangerous goods and valuables for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put a gas bottle on the removal truck if it is empty?
Most removalists will still refuse, because an empty LPG cylinder is rarely completely empty and can leak vapour. Resources Safety and Health Queensland suggests swapping the bottle through a supplier's exchange system or having it certified gas free by a supplier or approved test station. You can also carry up to two cylinders of 9 kilograms or less, upright and secured, in your own vehicle.
Will removalists move a lawn mower?
Yes, in most cases, as long as the fuel has been drained and the engine run dry. The same goes for whipper snippers, generators and outboards. Clean off soil and grass clippings too, partly to keep the truck clean and partly because soil is a biosecurity risk in Queensland's fire ant zones. Tell your removalist about any large machinery at the quote stage.
Can removalists move my pot plants?
Often they can, but plants and soil from a fire ant biosecurity zone have to meet Biosecurity Queensland requirements before they leave the property. That means treatment and correct storage, bare-rooting for repotting, or another approved option. Check both addresses on the National Fire Ant Eradication Program's tool first, and check destination state rules for an interstate move.
Should I let the removalists pack my jewellery and documents?
It is better not to. Jewellery, cash, passports, wills, title deeds, medication and laptops should be packed by you and carried in your own car. It keeps the things that are hardest to replace under your control for the whole day, and it means nothing important is buried in the back of a loaded truck if your plans change between the two addresses.
Getting a moving quote that covers the awkward items
The easiest move is the one where the awkward items are sorted before the truck arrives: gas bottles swapped, fuel drained, chemicals dropped off, plants checked and valuables packed into the car. Our removalists in Brisbane and Cairns crews will talk through anything unusual when you book, so the right truck and crew turn up. List the tricky pieces when you get a free quote and we will tell you straight what can come and what needs another plan.
