Fresh calls for Victoria to introduce to follow other states with petrol price reporting scheme

A petrol price reporting scheme may soon be a reality in Victoria with the state the only place in Australia without a program to help motorists find the cheapest fuel.

There are fresh calls for the state government to introduce a petrol price reporting scheme, with Victoria now the only state without a mandatory program to help motorists find the cheapest bowser.

Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia have moved in the past year to join Western Australia and New South Wales by adding price reporting system, which require petrol stations to regularly notify the government about their charges.

The data, including any changes in price, is then made publicly available to allow drivers to find the best price near them.

Victoria last looked at the possibility of a mandatory reporting scheme in 2017 during its inquiry into petrol prices in the regions.

But a parliamentary committee chose not to recommend changing the current system and instead urged people to use private websites and apps instead.

Victoria is the last state without a petrol price reporting scheme. Picture: Federico Parra

Compare the Market’s head of strategy Emma Alberici said it often took days or weeks to update the prices for stations and that the time had come to re-examine mandatory reporting.

“In other states they are all real time, often you are meant to lodge your price the minute you change it,” she said.

“Queensland only did this last month after a two-year trial so it's a very live issue.

“The savings are quite significant, they said an average family in Queensland could save up to $147 if they shopped around with the apps.

“I believe that to be conservative.”

Ms Alberici said some stations could have a difference of 51c within 10 minutes drive of each other.

“Victoria is the last holdout,” she said.

“At the moment we’ve engaged a model that’s a bit like crowdsourcing to provide data for Victorians in our app. … It really does pay to compare prices in real time.”

Petrol prices have bounced back since Victorians have been released from lockdown. Picture: David Crosling

RACV senior manager Peter Kartsidimas said the organisation would welcome the introduction of a mandatory scheme.

“Before implementing any petrol price reporting system in Victoria, we should look at the systems that have already been implemented across Australia to ensure we have an efficient system for Victorians that provides price updates as frequently as possible,” he said.

“We are not sure why this hasn’t been implemented in Victoria, but we believe the introduction of a mandatory petrol price reporting system would provide Victorians with more accurate and up to date information to help save money at the bowser.”