Victoria to push for mandatory fuel price reporting, 24-hour price caps in bowser pricing shakeup

Fuel retailers in Victoria will need to publicly report prices the day before they change and cap any rises for 24 hours under a major proposition from the State Government.

Premier Jacinta Allan says the change will not be a silver bullet for cost of living pressures, however research has found Melburnians could save more than $300 a year with better price transparency.

The Opposition says similar policies floated by a Labor government in Canberra in 2008 were forecast to increase compliance costs on businesses and would have disproportionately affected small retailers.

The Australian Fuel Retailers Association says price reporting has merit, but when poorly implemented, such policies risk increases to average fuel prices.

Consultation on the new laws will now begin and a bill is expected to be introduced to Victoria’s parliament in Autumn.

Prices remain high in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, which take the second, third and fourth most expensive spots (behind Canberra) despite being the biggest markets with the most competition.

Darwin had the most expensive petrol in the country in 2017 - but since then real time price data and more competition among retailers has been developed.

Now, only Perth is cheaper than the Northern Territory capital.

Western Australia has a tightly regulated market and government-run FuelWatch database, plus highly repetitive weekly price cycles; Tuesday is always the cheapest day to fill up in Perth.

The Victorian government says, at the moment, price reporting from fuel retailers is voluntary and patchy.

They want to make it compulsory for the more than 1500 fuel retailers across the state to provide their pricing data in real time.

The new laws would pull fuel price data into the state’s Service Victoria app, which would show the prices, akin to numerous commercial sites and apps on offer now.

The government is also working through penalties should a retailer raise their prices above the notified price.

“You know how much fuel prices fluctuate - under our plan, you can find out tomorrow’s fuel price at every single servo on your route to work and make your decisions accordingly,” Ms Allan said.

“We know this won’t change everything for families who are doing it tough, but these savings can add up to hundreds of dollars a year.”

Consumer Affairs Minister Nick Staikos said the move would “give families more power at the bowser”.

“We’re also keeping multinational fuel companies transparent about the prices they set and the deals they promote.”

Newly-minted state Opposition Leader Brad Battin said a 2008 federal Labor scheme was shot down because of a myriad of adverse forecasts.

That policy was projected to result in a de facto price floor, impact independent retailers disproportionately, and open the door for increased petrol price co-ordination among retailers.

“We are supportive of any tool that provides more information to consumers,” Mr Battin said.

“In fact, we proposed such a policy at the last election which would have allowed motorists to see real time fuel prices.

“However, the reality is that this policy has the potential to drive prices up,” he said.

The Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association supports wider transparency in theory.

Association chief executive Mark McKenzie told NewsWire “Providing consumers with timely access to accurate fuel price information is a goal we strongly support”.

“However, it’s equally important to ensure that any measures introduced do not inadvertently reduce competition in the fuel market, which could drive up average fuel prices.”

Perth’s FuelWatch model was designed around the WA market, but it also risks “suppressing competitive pricing dynamics” and inadvertently pushing up average fuel prices.