Excise Cut Day 1: Are Stations Passing On the Savings?
The fuel excise was halved today. BowserBuddy's real-time data across all 8 states shows how much of the 26.3c/L cut is reaching the pump.
The fuel excise was halved today — from 52.6 cents per litre to 26.3 cents. On a 65-litre tank, that's roughly $17 in savings that should be showing up at the bowser.
But is it?
BowserBuddy tracks fuel prices across all eight Australian states and territories in near real-time. We've been collecting data since early March, giving us a solid baseline of what prices looked like before the cut. Here's what Day 1 looks like.
Note: This is a snapshot as of the late afternoon on 1 April. Prices will continue to adjust into tomorrow. We'll be publishing follow-up analyses at Day 3, Day 7, Day 14, and Day 30.
The national picture
Compared to yesterday (the last day before the cut), the average price of U91 unleaded has dropped from 259.3 c/L to 244.8 c/L — a fall of 14.5 cents per litre.
That's 55.1% of the 26.3 cent excise cut passed through to consumers on Day 1.
Over half the cut is already showing up at the pump — a solid start. As we discussed yesterday, the 2022 excise cut saw most of the savings appear within the first week. If that pattern holds, the remaining half should arrive in the next few days as wholesale pricing fully adjusts.
Diesel
For many Australians — particularly tradies, truckies, and regional drivers — diesel matters more than unleaded. The excise cut applies equally to diesel, so we should see the same saving.
The picture for diesel is more complex. Diesel prices have dropped from yesterday, but not as far as petrol.
Standard Diesel has moved from 317.3 c/L to 310.8 c/L — a drop of 6.5 c/L (24.7% pass-through). Premium Diesel has moved from 325.7 c/L to 313.0 c/L — a drop of 12.7 c/L (48.3% pass-through).
When we combine both diesel types (weighted by how many stations sell each), diesel is down 10.2 c/L from yesterday — a 38.8% pass-through.
That's lagging behind petrol. One reason: global diesel wholesale costs have been climbing sharply through March due to geopolitical tensions. The excise cut is pulling prices down, but rising wholesale costs are pushing them back up. Over a longer horizon, diesel is still more expensive than our two-week average (304.0 c/L) — meaning diesel drivers are caught between a tax cut and a wholesale price surge.
A tale of two diesels
To illustrate the difference between standard and premium diesel, take Caltex S24 Banana in QLD. Right now they're selling standard diesel at 299.9 c/L and premium diesel at 303.9 c/L — a spread of 4.0 c/L. Most drivers just grab whichever nozzle their servo offers, so the type of diesel your local station sells has a real impact on what you pay.
Other fuel types
E10 has dropped 10.6 c/L from yesterday's 251.5 to 240.9 c/L (40.3% pass-through). That's behind U91, which makes sense given E10 already carries a discount over regular unleaded.
U95 has dropped 14.8 c/L from 276.2 to 261.4 c/L (56.3% pass-through).
U98 has dropped 15.0 c/L from 284.1 to 269.1 c/L (57.0% pass-through).
Premium fuels are actually tracking slightly ahead of regular unleaded. U98 has seen the biggest cent-per-litre drop of any petrol type, which is encouraging — the pass-through isn't limited to budget fuels.
State by state
The excise cut is federal, but retail fuel markets are local. Here's how each state and territory is tracking on U91 unleaded, compared to yesterday:
| State | Yesterday (c/L) | Today (c/L) | Drop (c/L) | Pass-through |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SA | 260.1 | 240.9 | 19.2 | 73.0% |
| QLD | 259.8 | 242.2 | 17.6 | 66.9% |
| VIC | 260.2 | 248.8 | 11.4 | 43.3% |
| NT | 269.5 | 260.5 | 9.0 | 34.2% |
| WA | 255.5 | 249.2 | 6.3 | 24.0% |
| NSW | 241.0 | 238.2 | 2.8 | 10.6% |
| TAS | 233.7 | 232.9 | 0.8 | 3.0% |
| ACT | 235.4 | 239.0 | -3.6 | — |
South Australia is the clear leader, with nearly three-quarters of the cut already at the pump — a 19.2 cent drop in a single day. Queensland is close behind at 66.9%. Both states had prices near their cycle peaks yesterday, so the excise cut landed at just the right time for drivers.
Victoria is seeing solid early movement at 43%, and the Northern Territory is at 34%.
WA is at 24%. FuelWatch locks in the next day's prices at 2:30pm AWST — today's posted prices would have been set yesterday, so a bigger drop may appear tomorrow when the first post-cut FuelWatch cycle takes effect.
NSW and TAS have made only small moves so far. Both had lower prices yesterday (nearer the bottom of their respective cycles), which means there was less distance to drop from. The pass-through should become clearer in the coming days.
ACT shows a small price increase, but with only 7 stations reporting so far today, this isn't meaningful — it'll stabilise as more data comes in.
What happens next
In 2022, when the excise was last halved, the ACCC found that average prices fell by 25 to 35 cents per litre within the first week. The full saving didn't appear on Day 1 — but it came quickly, driven by wholesale pricing and competitive pressure.
This time around, enforcement is stronger. The ACCC's maximum penalty for price gouging has been doubled from $50 million to $100 million, and investigations into Ampol, BP, Mobil Oil, and Viva Energy are already underway.
The diesel situation deserves close watching. If wholesale diesel costs stabilise, we should see the excise cut start to bite more visibly. But if global diesel prices keep climbing, Australians could face the worst of both worlds — rising prices despite an excise cut.
We'll keep tracking this daily and publish follow-up analyses:
- Day 3 (3 April) — early trend check
- Day 7 (7 April) — the one-week picture
- Day 14 (14 April) — two-week progress report
- Day 30 (1 May) — the monthly report card
In the meantime, use BowserBuddy to find the cheapest fuel near you — because even with the excise cut, there can be a 30+ cent difference between the cheapest and dearest station in your area.
How we calculated this
This analysis uses BowserBuddy's own price tracking data across all eight states and territories. We compute a station-count-weighted daily average from our price aggregates dataset, which is updated every four hours from direct government fuel price APIs.
Comparison period: Today's prices are compared to March 31 (the last day before the cut took effect). This gives the most direct measure of the excise cut's overnight impact. We also track a longer two-week baseline average (18–31 March) for robustness, but the day-before comparison is more useful for measuring the cut itself since it avoids being distorted by price cycle movements during the baseline period.
Pass-through percentage: Calculated as the price drop divided by 26.3 c/L (the ex-GST excise cut). Because the excise also carries 10% GST, the full retail price impact of the cut is actually 28.93 c/L — so a pass-through above 100% against the 26.3 c/L figure is theoretically possible once prices fully adjust.
What's excluded: Closed stations, out-of-stock prices, suspected reporting errors, and prices outside reasonable bounds are all filtered before averaging. For full details on our data quality approach, see the Data Transparency section on our prices dashboard.
Diesel Combined is a station-count-weighted blend of standard Diesel and Premium Diesel — reflecting the fact that most stations sell one or the other, and drivers take what's available.
Sample sizes: Today's national averages are based on approximately 23,400 U91 price reports and 32,100 diesel price reports across all eight states and territories.