What you can't ship to Australia
More household shipments are delayed by soil on a garden spade than by anything anyone would think of as contraband. Australia's border controls are among the strictest in the world, and they are aimed at biosecurity risk rather than value — which is why a clean set of golf clubs sails through and a muddy pair of walking boots does not.
This page is organised by what actually goes wrong in a container, not by regulation. Work through it before packing day, because every problem below is cheaper to fix in your own garden than at an Australian quarantine facility.
If you only do one thing, clean everything that has been outdoors
Soil carries the pests and diseases Australia is protecting against, so the inspection question is not "is this item allowed?" but "is this item clean?". Garden tools, bikes, boots, camping gear, outdoor furniture and sports equipment are all permitted — dirty ones are not.
Treatment, fumigation and the storage while it is arranged are charged to you, and they delay delivery of an entire container. An afternoon with a brush and a hose is the highest-return work in the whole move.
What happens to each category
| Category | What happens | Do this before packing |
|---|---|---|
| Anything that has touched soil | Clean or it gets treated at your cost | Wash, scrub and dry everything before packing. Pay attention to treads, joints and hollow sections where soil hides. This is free to do at home and expensive to have done on arrival. |
| Food, seeds and plant material | Do not ship | Empty the kitchen cupboards yourself before packing day. Packers work fast and will box what is in front of them. |
| Untreated wood and bamboo | Clean or it gets treated at your cost | Remove all bark. Inspect for boreholes and frass. Timber packaging and crating should meet the ISPM 15 international standard — reputable movers use certified materials as a matter of course, but it is worth confirming if you are packing your own crates. If a piece is not worth fumigation, it is not worth shipping. |
| Animal products | Declare it | Declare these items specifically on your inventory. Some require permits, and an undeclared item is treated far less sympathetically than a declared one. |
| Firearms, weapons and anything that looks like one | Declare it | Raise these with us before packing, not after. Import permits take time and cannot be arranged retrospectively. |
| Anything flammable, pressurised or corrosive | Do not ship | Drain fuel from all garden machinery and dispose of chemicals before the move. Batteries installed in devices are generally fine; loose ones are not. |
| Medicines and supplements | Declare it | Carry personal prescriptions with you rather than in the container, with a copy of the prescription. Check anything else against the TGA before it is packed. |
| Ivory, antiques and protected species material | Declare it | If you own something in this category, tell us early. Permits exist for genuine antiques but must be arranged in advance and take time. |
Anything that has touched soil
The single biggest cause of failed inspections. Australia's concern is soil and plant material, and it does not matter whether the item itself is permitted — a clean spade ships, a dirty one gets held.
Commonly packed by mistake
- Garden tools, spades, forks, secateurs
- Lawnmowers and strimmers, including the underside of the deck
- Plant pots, seed trays and hanging baskets
- Wellington boots, walking boots and football boots
- Bicycles and mountain bikes, particularly tyres and mudguards
- Camping equipment, tent pegs and groundsheets
- Golf clubs and golf bags
Before packing day
Wash, scrub and dry everything before packing. Pay attention to treads, joints and hollow sections where soil hides. This is free to do at home and expensive to have done on arrival.
Food, seeds and plant material
Do not ship food. The exceptions are narrow enough that they are not worth the risk in an unaccompanied shipment, and food is the most common reason a container is opened.
Commonly packed by mistake
- Dried herbs, spices and stock cubes left in the kitchen cupboard
- Tea, coffee and packet mixes
- Seeds, bulbs and dried flower arrangements
- Pot pourri, wreaths and decorative straw
- Pine cones, conkers and shells collected by children
- Bird seed and pet food
Before packing day
Empty the kitchen cupboards yourself before packing day. Packers work fast and will box what is in front of them.
Untreated wood and bamboo
Wooden items are permitted but are inspected for bark, insect damage and live pests. Anything with bark still attached, or with visible boreholes, is a treatment risk.
Commonly packed by mistake
- Garden furniture, decking offcuts and log baskets
- Bamboo screening, canes and wind chimes
- Carved souvenirs and driftwood
- Wicker and rattan baskets
- Untreated pallets or crates you were planning to reuse
Before packing day
Remove all bark. Inspect for boreholes and frass. Timber packaging and crating should meet the ISPM 15 international standard — reputable movers use certified materials as a matter of course, but it is worth confirming if you are packing your own crates. If a piece is not worth fumigation, it is not worth shipping.
Animal products
Skins, feathers, bone and shell attract close scrutiny, and some are restricted under wildlife protection rules in addition to biosecurity.
Commonly packed by mistake
- Sheepskin rugs, hides and taxidermy
- Feather pillows and down duvets
- Bone, horn or ivory ornaments and antiques
- Coral and seashells
- Wool fleeces and unprocessed animal fibre
Before packing day
Declare these items specifically on your inventory. Some require permits, and an undeclared item is treated far less sympathetically than a declared one.
Firearms, weapons and anything that looks like one
Firearms require permits arranged before the shipment sails. Replica and antique weapons are frequently overlooked by owners and rarely by inspectors.
Commonly packed by mistake
- Licensed firearms and ammunition
- Air rifles, BB guns and paintball markers
- Replica, deactivated and antique firearms
- Swords, flick knives and martial arts weapons
- Crossbows and slingshots
Before packing day
Raise these with us before packing, not after. Import permits take time and cannot be arranged retrospectively.
Anything flammable, pressurised or corrosive
Excluded by the shipping line rather than by Australia. Dangerous goods cannot travel in a household container regardless of what customs would allow.
Commonly packed by mistake
- Paint, thinners, adhesives and white spirit
- Petrol, oil, and fuel left in mowers, strimmers and generators
- Gas bottles, camping gas and aerosols
- Fireworks, flares and matches
- Bleach, drain cleaner and pool chemicals
- Loose lithium batteries and power banks
Before packing day
Drain fuel from all garden machinery and dispose of chemicals before the move. Batteries installed in devices are generally fine; loose ones are not.
Medicines and supplements
Prescription medicines for personal use are handled differently from a boxful of supplements, and some substances legal in the UK or US are controlled in Australia.
Commonly packed by mistake
- Prescription medication in quantity
- Herbal and traditional remedies
- Bodybuilding and performance supplements
- Vape liquids containing nicotine
- CBD products
Before packing day
Carry personal prescriptions with you rather than in the container, with a copy of the prescription. Check anything else against the TGA before it is packed.
Ivory, antiques and protected species material
CITES-listed material can be seized even when it was legally purchased and has been in your family for generations. This is the category where people lose things that genuinely matter to them.
Commonly packed by mistake
- Ivory in piano keys, cutlery handles, chess sets and jewellery
- Tortoiseshell and certain corals
- Reptile-skin bags, belts and watch straps
- Some tropical hardwoods in furniture and instruments
- Traditional medicines containing animal derivatives
Before packing day
If you own something in this category, tell us early. Permits exist for genuine antiques but must be arranged in advance and take time.
The duty concession, and what breaks it
Separately from biosecurity, your shipment needs to qualify for the unaccompanied personal effects concession to arrive free of duty and GST. Most people qualify without thinking about it, and the ones who don't usually made the same mistake:
- Personal effects you have owned and used for at least 12 months generally enter free of duty and GST under the unaccompanied personal effects concession, declared on the ABF's B534 form.
- New or recently purchased goods do not qualify, and buying furniture shortly before you move can create an unexpected duty bill.
- Alcohol and tobacco are excluded from the concession entirely and attract duty and tax whatever their age.
- The concession applies to the person migrating. It does not cover goods you are shipping on behalf of someone else.
The form itself is the ABF's B534 statement, which we complete with you — our section-by-section guide to the B534 explains what each declaration means. For how volume and service level drive what the move costs, see what it costs to move to Australia.
Common questions
What is the most common reason a shipment is held at the Australian border?
Soil. Not contraband, not undeclared valuables — dirt on garden tools, bicycle tyres, walking boots and camping gear. It is also the cheapest problem to avoid, because cleaning the items thoroughly before they are packed costs nothing but an afternoon.
Will my whole container be opened if one item is a problem?
Not necessarily, but an inspection is triggered for the shipment rather than the item, and any cleaning, fumigation or treatment required is charged to you along with the storage while it happens. One unwashed spade can delay a household.
Can I ship food that is sealed and unopened?
Treat the answer as no for an unaccompanied shipment. Some sealed commercially packaged goods are permitted, but the categories are narrow, they change, and the cost of getting it wrong is disproportionate to the value of a jar of Marmite. Empty the cupboards before packing day.
What happens to items that are not allowed in?
Depending on the item, it may be treated, re-exported at your cost, or destroyed. Declaring something that turns out to be restricted gives you options; failing to declare it removes most of them and can attract penalties.
Do I need to list every item on the B534 form?
You need an accurate inventory rather than an exhaustive one, but anything in the declare categories above should be listed specifically. Vague inventories are the second most common cause of delay after soil, because an officer who cannot tell what is in a carton will look inside it.
Sources
Australian import rules change and are enforced at officer discretion on the day. This page is guidance on preparing a shipment, not a determination of what will be permitted — check the primary sources before relying on any specific item.