First Reading
Bill introduced on motion by Mr Anoulack Chanthivong, read a first time and printed.
Second Reading Speech
Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields—Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Minister for Building, and Minister for Corrections) (14:53): I move:
That this bill be now read a second time.
I am pleased to introduce the Fair Trading (FuelCheck) Amendment Bill 2026. This bill makes amendments to the Fair Trading Act 1987 and the Fair Trading Regulation 2019 to clarify FuelCheck reporting obligations for service stations and deter noncompliance, ensuring accurate and timely information to support the fuel response and help motorists find the best petrol prices. We know that fuel availability and cost-of-living pressures are having a serious impact on the people of New South Wales right now. Fuel is not a luxury; it is a necessity. It gets people to work and children to school and keeps our primary industries running.
FuelCheck is a nation‑leading app and website that helps people manage household budgets by providing real-time information about fuel price and availability. Since the conflict in the Middle East began, the use of FuelCheck has skyrocketed. Between 1 March and 30 April, the FuelCheck app and website have been visited a total of 22,458,877 times. This is an outstanding success story. FuelCheck, now more than ever, continues to be an indispensable tool for the people of New South Wales, and the Government is committed to ensuring that the information available to consumers remains accurate, updated and relevant.
This bill proposes important amendments to the Fair Trading Act 1987 and the Fair Trading Regulation 2019 to ensure that service stations continue to do the right thing. The amendments will ensure that reporting obligations are complied with so that information on fuel prices and availability remains accurate and timely. This is critically important at a time when we are relying on this data to provide real-time, statewide visibility of fuel availability and prices. I now turn to the details of the bill. This bill makes it an offence if a service station does not notify the standard retail price of a fuel offered for sale along with the date and time from which the fuel was available at that price. This is already required under the Fair Trading (FuelCheck) Order 2026, but creating an offence in the Act will close a regulatory gap and remove any doubt that failing to notify a price is an offence and will not be tolerated.
The bill also creates an offence for a service station operator to fail to notify when a fuel that is ordinarily available for retail sale becomes unavailable. On 10 April 2026, NSW Fair Trading published the 2026 order, which introduced a requirement for service station operators to notify the secretary if any of the fuels ordinarily offered for sale at their service station become unavailable. Currently, this is not an offence. By creating a new offence, the bill reinforces the importance of this obligation and ensures that service stations that do not comply will be penalised. Having updated information about current fuel availability across New South Wales is critical not only to support the Government's assessment of fuel availability, but also to ensure consumers do not waste precious fuel driving to a service station that does not have fuel available. This will become increasingly vital if the fuel availability crisis persists.
The bill also increases the maximum penalties for the existing and new offences for an individual. Currently, the maximum penalty for an individual is 200 penalty units, which is $22,000. The bill increases the maximum penalty for an individual to 500 penalty units, which is $55,000, if a service station fails to register as required, does not report the price of fuel it is selling, if there is a mismatch between the price reported on FuelCheck and the price charged at the bowser, or if a service station does not report when a fuel becomes unavailable. This increase to the maximum penalty for individuals will mean New South Wales has the highest penalty in the country. This is a necessary deterrent to ensure service stations do the right thing. In this cost‑of‑living crisis, the people of New South Wales deserve access to accurate, up‑to‑date information to make informed fuel purchasing decisions.
The bill will also amend the Fair Trading Act and Fair Trading Regulation 2019 to increase the penalty infringement notice amounts for a FuelCheck offence and provide for even higher PINs to be issued for a second or subsequent offence. These increased penalties will complement the excellent work of NSW Fair Trading inspectors, who, through their compliance blitz, have now carried out just under 3,900 inspections and re‑inspections. From Manly to Moree, we have ensured New South Wales residents are getting a fair deal when they go to the petrol station in over 90 per cent of the State.
New South Wales motorists have also wasted no time stepping up as "Bowser Busters". The more than five million motorists in New South Wales are supporting NSW Fair Trading by having eyes and ears on every street, road and highway, turbocharging our fairer fuel price compliance blitz. Our message to service stations is clear: Do the wrong thing and you will be fined. As of Monday 4 May 2026, since the beginning of its compliance blitz in March, NSW Fair Trading has issued 242 PINs to service stations for noncompliance. Some 193 of those PINs were for service stations that had a price mismatch between the price reported on FuelCheck and the price at the bowser.
In the Snowy Mountains, a service station flagged through the Bowser Busters program was found displaying diesel at $3 per litre at the bowser, while advertising $1.96 per litre in the FuelCheck app—a discrepancy of $1.04 per litre. When fuel prices are high, this is not just about inconvenience and disappointment. This misleading behaviour could put an unbearable strain on a family or small business owner. This bill draws a line. It says that while service stations are entitled to make a fair return, there is no entitlement to exploit consumers during periods of volatility. This bill provides for separate PIN amounts to be prescribed for first and second or subsequent offences that occur within 12 months.
Repeated instances of noncompliance are serious, and this bill will ensure service stations that repeatedly do the wrong thing are penalised accordingly. For a first offence, the new PIN amounts for an individual will be $1,100 and otherwise $3,300 for a corporation. For a second or subsequent offence in the past 12 months, the new PIN for an individual will be $5,500 and $11,000 for a corporation. For a PIN to be issued for a second or subsequent offence, the offence must be for the same issue as the first offence to ensure we are only penalising genuine instances of recidivism. For example, a service station that notifies a different price to what is sold at the bowser and receives a PIN for this offence—a first offence—would be liable only for a second or subsequent offence if they are found to have committed a further price mismatch offence within 12 months.
The increase in penalties recognises that noncompliance has the potential to cause serious harm to New South Wales consumers and ensures that it continues to be effectively deterred. This bill makes clear that there will be swift and significant consequences for service stations that fail to comply with their obligations. Noncompliant reporting on FuelCheck directly affects consumers who rely on clear and accurate visibility of fuel prices to make everyday choices. Consumers must be able to trust that the price displayed on FuelCheck is the price that they will pay. In the midst of this fuel availability crisis, it is the responsibility of this Government to take action to protect the people of New South Wales.
FuelCheck is an invaluable tool that empowers motorists by providing transparency and the opportunity to compare fuel prices in real time. The amendments in this bill will ensure that the Government has access to accurate, real-time data when monitoring fuel prices and shortages to make informed fuel distribution decisions. The Government is pleased to ensure that service stations across the State are complying and that when consumers go to FuelCheck they have access to the information they need to alleviate some of the burden this fuel crisis is placing on the people of New South Wales. I commend the bill to the House.
Debate adjourned.
