Petrol costs fuel inflation: here’s how to save
The consumer watchdog recommends these online tools to beat the price hikes.
NSA calls for freeze on fuel exercise
Rising fuel costs affect the cost of many everyday items. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) says rising fuel costs directly impact the cost of groceries.
National Seniors Australia says the Federal Government could reduce the impact of rising fuel prices by:
Temporarily reducing the fuel excise while oil prices remain high (up to 20c per litre)
Pausing indexation while oil prices are high
Revising the method used to calculate indexation to ensure it is not contributing to inflationary pressures.
It’s one of life’s sure things. Along with births, deaths, and taxes, there are petrol price increases.
In the current economic climate, finding savings is important.
You could band together with neighbours and friends and drive around the suburbs monitoring the price cycles of various suburban petrol stations. Or there are free apps and websites to help you shop around and choose where and when to fill up.
That’s not new, but now the consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has made available its review of 40 apps and websites from various providers ranging from state governments to motoring groups and commercial companies.
Information about the benefits these apps can bring is contained in the ACCC’s latest petrol industry report.
Many fuel price apps and websites display near real-time retail fuel prices on a map or in a list, with price data collected as part of various state and territory government fuel price transparency schemes, as well as data from other sources.
Fuel price apps and websites include:
FuelCheck NSW app and website (which also covers the ACT)
Northern Territory MyFuel NT website
FuelWatch WA website
You can find these apps by searching in Apple App Store or Google Play.
Fuel price transparency schemes are a key source of near real-time price data used by fuel apps and websites, the ACCC said.
The schemes require fuel retailers to report their retail fuel prices, usually within 30 minutes of a price change. Data is then made available for apps and websites to display for consumer use.
These schemes provide transparency of easily accessible retail fuel price information for consumers, that is comprehensive, timely, and accurate to a large degree.
For Victorian motorists, the available fuel price apps and websites still provide useful information to shop around. However, the ACCC warns most of the available services are not comprehensive (as they do not cover all retail sites).
Did you know?
Under fuel price transparency schemes in most states, petrol retailers are required to report their prices to a central system.
The timeframe is usually within 30 minutes of a price change at the bowser. The exception is in Western Australia, where the FuelWatch scheme requires retailers to log prices a day in advance and lock in prices for 24 hours.
Petrol price cycles are annoying, especially when they mysteriously jump tens of cents at a time but drop slowly and only by a matter of cents.
These cycles result from pricing decisions made by retailers and are a longstanding feature at petrol stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.
ACCC analysis shows that petrol price cycles have become longer in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
From 2018 to 2023, the average duration of price cycles in these cities increased from around four weeks to around seven weeks. These changes make it more difficult for motorists to time their purchases.
“A perception may be that all retailers increase prices at once, but our research shows this isn’t the case,” ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said.
“If you see prices going up at one retail site, apps and websites can help to find another that hasn’t yet raised its price.
“In Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, average prices across the city can take up to two weeks to move from a low point to the highest point, giving time to notice prices going up and shop around.”
A range of petrol prices is often available across retail sites at all points of the price cycle, including large differences at certain points.
The apps and websites can help find retail sites with relatively lower prices.
In Adelaide, the average duration of the petrol price cycle has become shorter over time and can be around two weeks.
Perth has a regular weekly price cycle, which according to the ACCC, many motorists are aware of. About 30% of retail petrol sales volumes in the first half of 2023 occurred on Tuesdays, the cheapest day of the week.
The ACCC website lets motorists know about movements in petrol price cycles in the five largest cities.
The website has up-to-date average price charts as well as buying tips, which are updated three times a week to provide guidance to consumers to help them decide when to buy petrol, and when first to shop around before buying.
The report also shows a small number of regional locations, including the Central Coast, Newcastle, Singleton, Tweed Heads South, and Wollongong, all in New South Wales; Koo Wee Rup in Victoria; Caboolture, Gold Coast, Ipswich, and Toowoomba in Queensland; and Gawler in South Australia.
According to ACCC calculations, a motorist following the cycles and filling up 50 litres of regular unleaded petrol could have saved between about $242 in Brisbane and $740 in Perth in the calendar year 2023.
Similarly, a Sydney motorist could have saved around $407 across the year, in Melbourne around $333, and in Adelaide around $486.
The estimated potential savings are greater in Adelaide and Perth where shorter petrol price cycles provide more opportunities to buy when the price cycle is around a low point.
While there is no petrol price cycle in Canberra, Hobart, Darwin, or most regional locations, using apps and websites to shop around and purchasing at relatively lower priced retail sites can also save money.
