Moving house in Sydney in the last week of January 2027: Australia Day, the end of the holidays and Term 1

If you're moving in Sydney's inner west in the last week of January 2027, three dates shape your week. Australia Day falls on Tuesday 26 January 2027 and is observed on the day itself, so Monday 25 January is an ordinary working day rather than the end of a long weekend. The Eastern division summer holidays, which include Sydney, run to Wednesday 27 January 2027, and Term 1 starts for Eastern division students on Wednesday 3 February.

By our count, that puts a public holiday, the last day of the holidays and the first day of school inside nine days, from Tuesday 26 January to Wednesday 3 February inclusive.

The upshot is simple. Choose your day now, get that date and a start time written into your quote, and if you rent, count your notice back from the day you hand over the keys. Here is how we at Burwood Removals would plan the week.

The last week of January 2027, day by day

1. 1Mon 25 Jan Ordinary working day¹
2. 2Tue 26 Jan Australia Day public holiday (observed on the day, a weekday)¹
3. 3Wed 27 Jan Last day of Eastern division summer holidays (includes Sydney)²
4. 4Thu 28 Jan to Tue 2 Feb School development days (no students)³
5. 5Wed 3 Feb Term 1 starts for Eastern division students²
6. Bar under the strip Western division: summer holidays to Wed 3 Feb 2027²

Monday 25 January is a normal weekday. Offices, agents and strata managers keep their usual hours, which helps if you need keys, a lift booking or a final inspection that day.

Tuesday 26 January is the public holiday. Move on it if it suits you, but book it as a public-holiday job and have that in writing (more below).

Wednesday 27 January is the last day of the Eastern division summer holidays. Moving on this day or later in the week still leaves you a week to unpack before students go back.

Thursday 28 January to Tuesday 2 February are school development days: teachers are back, students are not. Check your own school's calendar if you need to drop anything off.

Wednesday 3 February is the first day of Term 1 for Eastern division students.

If you're moving to or from the Western division, its dates differ: its summer holidays run to Wednesday 3 February 2027, and its Term 1 starts later, so check that page for your school.

If you're still weighing a December move against a January one, our guide to moving house over Christmas in Sydney covers the weeks before this one.

Is Australia Day a long weekend in 2027?

Year	Australia Day	Long weekend?
2026	Monday 26 January 2026	Yes (falls on Monday)
2027	Tuesday 26 January 2027	No (Tuesday is the holiday, observed on the day)

No. Australia Day moves to the following Monday only when 26 January falls on a Saturday or Sunday, so in 2027 the holiday is Tuesday 26 January. In 2026 it fell on Monday 26 January, which gave a long weekend; in 2027 it does not.

If your move or a helper's drive crosses the city on the day, plan around the harbour. Sydney's Australia Day events are concentrated around Circular Quay, Barangaroo and the harbour, and the official site lists Dawn Reflection at 5:20am, Ferrython at 12:10pm and Australia Day Live at 7:30pm. Australia Day Live is at Circular Quay. A move that stays within the inner west keeps clear of those precincts.

The holiday also changes who is working. The Fair Work Ombudsman says all employees have a right to be absent on a public holiday, and different pay and entitlements can apply when they work one. That is a good reason to ask any removalist how a Tuesday 26 January booking is priced, and to have the answer on paper.

What to get in writing when you book around a public holiday

Your removalist quote and contract

• Written and itemised
• Inventory of items
• Both addresses
• Date and start time
• How payment is made
• Any extra storage costs for delays
• Insurance (removalists aren't required by law to insure your property, so check your own cover and ask about transit insurance)
• How a public-holiday booking is priced, if your date is Tuesday 26 January

NSW Fair Trading's advice is to ask for a written, itemised quote and read the contract. It should cover an inventory, both addresses, dates and times, how payment is made, and any extra storage costs if there are delays.

The date matters more than usual this week. When no time is set, services must be provided in a reasonable time, and what counts as reasonable depends on the task and other factors such as busy periods and public holidays. Put the date and start time in the quote and that question doesn't arise.

Check insurance before moving day, too. Removalists aren't required by law to insure your property. Fair Trading recommends your own insurance, and notes that AFRA-accredited removalists carry public liability insurance and can provide transit insurance. Our guides to removalist insurance and what Australian Consumer Law guarantees go further.

Renting? Count your notice back from moving day

NSW minimum notice periods, in days

• Tenant, ending a periodic agreement: 21
• Tenant, at the end of a fixed term: 14
• Landlord, sale, renovation or family move-in: 90
• Landlord, same reasons, fixed term of 6 months or less: 60
• Landlord, after an actual sale: 30

Bars to scale, 0 to 90 days

A late-January move starts in early January for most renters. NSW's minimum notice for a tenant is 14 days at the end of a fixed term and 21 days to end a periodic agreement.

Here is the working for a Friday 29 January hand-back. With 21 days' notice on a periodic lease, you would give notice by Friday 8 January. At the end of a fixed term that finishes that day, 14 days' notice means by Friday 15 January. That is our estimate, counting calendar days back from the vacate date. Check the count against the official notice page before you send yours.

A tenant can't end a fixed-term agreement early except in the special cases the notice page marks with an asterisk; the 14-day notice is for the end of the term.

If it's your landlord ending the tenancy, the periods are longer: 90 days for sale, renovation or a family move-in (60 for fixed terms of 6 months or less), and 30 days after an actual sale.

Taking your bond with you

Old rental

New rental (from the day you enter)

Vacate the old rental within 4 weeks of entering the new one

Conditions

• Same tenants on both bonds
• No claim already in progress on the old bond
• Small administration fee (amount on the Smart Rental Bonds page)

If you're renting at both ends, Smart Rental Bonds can save you finding a second bond. Under the scheme, you must vacate the old rental within 4 weeks of entering the new one, the same tenants must be on both, and you can't transfer if a claim is already in progress on the old bond. There is a small government administration fee; the Smart Rental Bonds page shows the current amount.

On the NSW Government's Smart Rental Bonds page, any difference between the new bond and the remainder of the old one is invoiced or refunded, after agreed claims are paid.

For a late-January move, that 4-week window is easy to fit: get the new keys, move inside the window, then hand back the old place. A strata building's move-in bond is a different thing altogether, and our NSW strata moving guide covers it.

Moving before school goes back

The case for moving before 3 February is mostly about the kids. A week between the move and the first day gives them time to find the bedroom, the lunchbox and the walk to school before it counts. Unpack their rooms first, and keep school shoes, bags and uniforms in a box that travels in the car rather than the truck.

Plan the truck's route with the school calendar in mind. The 40km/h school zone limit applies on notified school days, including school development days, which is what 28 January to 2 February are, and fines and demerit points are higher for school zone offences. If your route passes a school in the days before students return, check whether school-zone times are in force rather than assuming they aren't.

Our guide to moving around NSW school holidays has more on planning a move around the school year.

Planning for January heat and summer storms

January mean maximum temperature

• Sydney Olympic Park (record 2011 to 2026): 28.8°C
• Sydney Observatory Hill (long record, closed Aug 2020): 26.0°C

Bars to scale, 0 to 30°C

Late January can be hot, and it can be wet. At the Bureau of Meteorology's Sydney Olympic Park station, with a record from 2011 to 2026, January's mean maximum is 28.8°C, there is a mean of 3.1 January days of 35°C or more, and the decile 9 maximum is 35.6°C. Its record is 47.1°C, set on 4 January 2020.

The longer record at Sydney Observatory Hill, which closed in August 2020, gives a January mean maximum of 26.0°C and a mean of 3.3 days at 30°C or more. Neither station is in Burwood, so read them as a guide to the season rather than a forecast for your street.

Rain is just as real. Sydney Olympic Park averages 127.8 mm in January over 12.1 rain days.

What that means on the day:

• Start early. A 7am start gets the heaviest lifting done before the afternoon peak.
• Water and shade. Fill a cooler, keep it in the shade at both addresses, and give everyone carrying furniture somewhere to stop.
• Heat-sensitive things travel with you. Medicines, candles, vinyl records, wine and electronics are better in an air-conditioned car than a hot truck.
• Plan for a storm. Keep mattress bags and plastic wrap on hand, lay floor protection at both doors, and have old towels ready for wet shoes.

Clear these out before moving day

Sort before the truck arrives

• Gas BBQ cylinder (not carried without a purge certificate)
• Pool chemicals (needs special attention)
• Fire extinguishers (needs special attention)
• Plants (needs special attention)
• Pets and other animals (needs special attention)
• Lawnmower (drain the petrol)

A January clear-out often turns up the shed and pool gear, and some of it can't simply go on the truck. AFRA says gas BBQ cylinders aren't carried without a purge certificate, pool chemicals, fire extinguishers, plants and animals need special attention, and petrol must be drained from lawnmowers.

Sort these out the week before, not on the morning. Our packing timeline shows where that fits.

Your late-January move on one page

Dates

• Tue 26 Jan 2027 Australia Day public holiday¹
• Wed 27 Jan 2027 last day of Eastern division summer holidays²
• Wed 3 Feb 2027 Term 1 starts for Eastern division students²

Renting

• 21 days' tenant notice to end a periodic agreement³
• 14 days' tenant notice at the end of a fixed term³
• Vacate within 4 weeks of entering the new rental for a Smart Rental Bonds transfer⁴
• Small administration fee (amount on the Smart Rental Bonds page)⁴

Weather at Sydney Olympic Park

• January mean maximum 28.8°C⁵
• 3.1 days of 35°C or more⁵
• 127.8 mm January rainfall⁵

Three dates, two notice periods, one bond window and a weather pattern: that is the whole week. Pin the panel above to the fridge and work from it.

Your next step: put the date in writing

Pick your day first: Monday 25 January if you want offices open, Tuesday 26 January if you're happy to book a public-holiday move, or Wednesday 27 January onwards if you want the move done before Term 1. Then tell Burwood Removals your date, both addresses and what's moving through our moving quote page, and ask for the date, start time and any public-holiday pricing to be spelled out in the written quote.

If either end is an apartment, book the lift and loading dock as early as the truck. Our guide to booking a lift and loading dock walks through it.