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Elise Archer,Attorney-General and Minister for Building and Construction

The Tasmanian Government remains committed to assisting Tasmanians through the challenges posed due to COVID-19.

The challenges of this pandemic and the recovery from its impacts highlight the importance of keeping the costs of living low, including the cost of fuel.

While fuel prices on the mainland reduced quickly in line with global oil markets, the same did not occur in Tasmania.

To help put downward pressure on fuel prices, the Tasmanian Government will introduce a mandatory real-time fuel price reporting scheme.

As part of this scheme, all fuel retailers will be required to update fuel prices as they occur providing a vastly enhanced level of transparency.

To provide access to these real-time prices, a website and free app are being developed to help motorists to easily search for the cheapest fuel by location, price, fuel type or brand.

The provision of price information by retailers will be closely monitored by the Government, with penalties for failing to provide accurate information.

The Government has been progressing this by thoroughly examining similar models in other jurisdictions, learning from the approaches taken particularly in New South Wales where the app has been downloaded by more than 600,000 motorists.

The scheme will be established through a Code of Practice under the Australian Consumer Law (Tasmania) Act 2010 which will be subject to a consultation process with stakeholders, including the RACT and fuel retailers.

It is expected the real time price reporting scheme will be operational from July 2020 following consultation and the development of the free app for motorists.