Under the state government’s plan, fuel companies will need to publicly report fuel price changes the day before they take effect and cap those prices for 24 hours.
Under the state government’s plan, fuel companies will need to publicly report fuel price changes the day before they take effect and cap those prices for 24 hours.
By Rachael Dexter
January 20, 2025 — 12.18pm
Petrol stations will be forced to freeze their fuel prices for 24 hours at a time under a new cost-of-living policy announced by the Victorian government on Monday.
Under the plan, fuel companies must publicly report their fuel price changes the day before they are in effect and cap those prices for 24 hours. The price at any outlet can’t rise at any time throughout that day, but the price can be lowered.
However, the lobby group for service stations has already warned the market intervention could have the unintended effect of increasing average fuel prices.
Premier Jacinta Allan announced the policy ahead of the byelection for the seat of Werribee after the resignation of local MP and treasurer Tim Pallas in December. The byelection is being viewed as a litmus test for Allan’s government.
The government will also use the price data in a new feature on the Services Victoria app that would allow drivers to compare fuel prices.
Current petrol price comparison apps like PetrolSpy use crowdsourced petrol prices, which can change multiple times a day or be incorrect.
“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,” the premier said.
Legislation will need to be passed to bring the scheme into effect, and the government said the “appropriate enforcement structure and penalties for fuel retailers” was still being worked out.
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The lobby group for petrol retailers, The Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association, flagged concern around the price freeze mandate while welcoming the app.
“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,” chief executive Mark McKenzie said in a statement.
“Locking in prices for 24-hour periods limits the ability of the aggressive fuel discounters to further discount their prices if they discover that they are similar to that of their competitors, which means that they may well adopt more conservative pricing strategies,” he said.
More to come.
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Rachael Dexter is a City reporter for The Age, previously with The Sunday Age.Connect via Twitter, Facebook or email.
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