Moving in Melbourne: reserved parking for removalists, owners corporation rules and local removalists

Quick answer: The City of Melbourne issues reserved parking permits for removalists: $206 a day for the first bay and $103 for each extra bay, with a 50% discount for City of Melbourne residents moving at their own address. Apply more than five clear business days ahead; late applications cost more ($206 to $412 extra) and are at the City’s discretion. A truck needs at least two bays. Airtasker puts Melbourne removalist rates at $114 to $190 an hour for two movers and a truck.

Reserving parking for a removalist in the City of Melbourne

The City of Melbourne lists removalists among the uses for its reserved parking permits. Depending on the location, it either temporarily changes the signs to “No Stopping, Reserved Parking Permit Holders Excepted”, or leaves the signs and lets you use bollards or witches’ hats to hold the bays named on your permit. The fees are:

City of Melbourne reserved parking	Fee
First parking bay	$206 per day
Each additional bay	$103 per day
Example: truck needing 2 bays	$309 per day
City of Melbourne resident, removalist outside own home	50% discount (upload a utility bill or lease as proof)
Amending a permit	$206 per permit
Priority processing: 4 / 3 / 2 or fewer business days’ notice	$206 / $306 / $412

The practical rules:

Notice. Submit more than five clear business days before the date, allowing for weekends and public holidays. Permits cannot be issued on the spot, and payment must be receipted by 10am on the business day before the booking.
How many bays. The City says trucks need at least two bays; a typical bay is six metres, so measure the truck and allow room to unload from the rear.
Where it is possible. Bays can be reserved in green-signed permissive parking. Loading zones and No Parking areas are only at the City’s discretion, and clearways (during clearway times), No Stopping areas, bus, taxi and permit zones, narrow lanes, Bourke Street Mall and Swanston Street between Flinders and La Trobe Streets cannot be reserved.
If someone parks in your bays, park in the nearest permissive bay, display the permit and call the City on 9658 9658 quoting the permit number.
Separate dates. Non-consecutive dates need separate permits.

These are City of Melbourne rules. Most Melbourne suburbs are in other councils, such as Yarra, Port Phillip or Stonnington, each with its own permit process, so check with the council for each address.

Apartments and owners corporation rules

In Victoria, an apartment building’s rules are made by its owners corporation. Consumer Affairs Victoria says rules made under the Owners Corporations Act 2006 and registered at Land Use Victoria apply to owners, tenants and occupiers, and that all lot owners and tenants must be given a copy of the rules before they move in. Where an owners corporation has not made its own rule on a subject, the model rules in the Owners Corporations Regulations 2018 apply. Read the rules for anything on moving, lift use or the loading dock, and ask the building manager to book the lift for your moving date.

Typical removalist prices

Start with the national ranges in our Australia removal costs guide. Airtasker’s cost guide, updated June 2026, puts the standard package of two removalists and a truck at $111 to $200 an hour nationally, and at $114 to $190 an hour in Melbourne. It gives $1,430 to $2,210 for a three-bedroom house with three movers and a truck, and says weekend, public holiday, end-of-month and summer moves typically cost 20% to 30% more than the base rate. All prices are in Australian dollars and were checked in September 2026.

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How to choose a removalist in Melbourne

Get at least three written, itemised quotes based on an inventory of what is moving, and ask how time is billed and whether a fuel levy applies.
Ask who arranges the council parking permit and who pays for it.
Ask about insurance. State regulators say most removalists only insure their own vehicles, so ask what cover applies to your goods and for a certificate of currency.
Avoid paying upfront. See deposits and final payments.
Apartment move? Book the lift and loading dock early. See moving from a flat: lifts, stairs, parking and building access.

Removalists in the Melbourne area

These firms appear in public business listings for the Melbourne area, taken from a Google Places search in September 2026. We have not checked their insurance, AFRA status, prices or work, and they have not paid to appear. Check any firm yourself before you book.