Putting downward pressure on fuel prices in Tasmania

Elise Archer,Minister for Building and Construction

The Tasmanian Government remains committed to reducing the cost of living for all Tasmanians.

As part of that commitment, we have been closely examining other jurisdiction’s fuel price reporting schemes and developing measures to prevent Tasmanians from paying too much for fuel, resulting in our decision to introduce a mandatory real-time fuel price reporting scheme, announced in May.

Today, I am pleased to announce that the Scheme is now fully operational through a free app and website.

As part of the scheme, fuel retailers will now be required to update fuel prices in real time, providing a vastly enhanced level of transparency for consumers. This type of scheme has proved a big success in other states, particularly New South Wales.

To provide access to real-time prices, a website (www.fuelcheck.tas.gov.au) and free app (FuelCheck TAS) have been developed to help motorists easily search for fuel by locations, price and fuel type or brand.

More than 230 fuel retailers have now registered for the scheme and have already begun reporting fuel prices. Obviously, registrations and testing of the app needed to occur prior to the Scheme going live to the public.

The Scheme has been established via a Code of Practice under the Australian Consumer Law (Tasmania) Act 2010 and, as required by the Act, the Code recently passed both Houses of Parliament.

We are confident the Scheme will put downward pressure on fuel prices, create more competition among fuel retailers and improve price transparency for Tasmanian motorists. Tasmanian fuel retailers are urged to ensure that any global price reductions are passed on to motorists as a matter of priority.

To start finding lower prices for fuel near you, go to, www.fuelcheck.tas.gov.au.

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