The Marshall Liberal Government will deliver real time petrol pricing to South Australian motorists following the findings of an extensive review undertaken by the South Australian Productivity Commission.
The Commission’s review found that while petrol price cycles still existed in those jurisdictions that did have fuel price monitoring, the presence of real time pricing data helped consumers find low cost fuel.
“There has been conflicting evidence around the benefits that real time price monitoring can deliver,” Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said.
“That’s why it was important for the Productivity Commission to review all the available evidence, consider the approach undertaken by other states, and report back on what we can do that would deliver the best benefits for South Australian motorists.
“Because we are not interested in delivering a scheme that has either no impact or a detrimental one for consumers – we want to help consumers save money by giving them information to help them find the cheapest fuel at any time.”
The Productivity Commission found that both options in place around Australia – either the Western Australian model where prices are frozen for 24 hours, or that in other jurisdictions where outlets must report any pricing changes – can assist motorists, but that the WA model may result in greater compliance costs for fuel retailers.
“After considering this report, we have concluded to trial a real time option, which would require petrol stations to report any price changes to a centralised database.
“While this may not reduce the overall cost of petrol, it will help motorists make informed choices and find the cheapest prices at any given time.”
Attorney-General Chapman said the trial would run for two years.
“The Government is now working on enabling legislation, before going out to tender to find a data aggregator. The data will be made available for free to private app developers, which is what Queensland have successfully implemented.”
The Productivity Commission’s report can be found at: https://www.sapc.sa.gov.au/commissioned-reports/commissioned-reports/commissioned-report-into-fuel-pricing/report
