Fuel retailers in South Australia and Victoria must report every price change to a government system within 30 minutes. Victorian retailers must also submit a maximum daily price cap for each fuel type between 8.30am and 2pm the day before it applies.
Those two obligations sound simple. In a live forecourt, they are not. Prices move, staff are busy, and every change creates another task in another portal. Miss the window and the penalties are now significant — in South Australia, an on-the-spot expiation fee rose from $550 to $5,000 on 30 July 2026.
This article sets out exactly what each state requires, what the penalties are, and how EM Forecourt™ from GaP Solutions can help eligible sites communicate automatically with state fuel pricing systems instead of relying on manual updates.
Rules and enforcement figures in this article were verified against Consumer and Business Services SA, SA.GOV.AU, Service Victoria and Consumer Affairs Victoria in August 2026. Fuel pricing regulation is changing quickly — always confirm current obligations with the relevant regulator.
Both states require reporting within 30 minutes. Victoria adds a daily price cap on top. This is the practical difference:
| Requirement | South Australia | Victoria |
|---|---|---|
| System | SA Fuel Pricing Information Scheme | Servo Saver, via Service Victoria |
| Price change deadline | Within 30 minutes of the change at the bowser | As soon as practicable, within 30 minutes of any change |
| Fuel unavailability | Must be reported, temporary or permanent | Availability shown per fuel type in the app |
| Daily price cap | Not applicable | Submit next day's cap per fuel type between 8.30am and 2pm the day before |
| Scope | Per station, per fuel type | Per station, per fuel type |
| Penalties | $5,000 expiation fee, up to $20,000 maximum penalty (from 30 July 2026) | Infringements of more than $3,000 per breach, court penalties exceeding $24,000 |
| In force since | 2021 (penalties increased 30 July 2026) | 6 August 2025 (price cap added 10 March 2026) |
Under the Fair Trading (Fuel Pricing Information) Regulations 2021, a fuel retailer must enter the normal fuel price for each fuel type into the aggregation system "as close in time as possible" to when a price change takes effect, and in any event no more than 30 minutes after that time. If a fuel type becomes unavailable, temporarily or permanently, that must be reported too.
South Australian retailers can report in several ways:
This is the change most South Australian operators need to know about. Amending legislation passed the SA Parliament in June 2026 and took effect on 30 July 2026. The on-the-spot expiation fee for a breach rose from $550 to $5,000, and the maximum court penalty rose from $10,000 to $20,000.
"Significantly increasing the penalties for breaches helps act as a strong deterrent and sends a clear warning that service station operators need to abide by the law and update prices and availability within 30 minutes of any change."
Brett Humphrey, Commissioner for Consumer and Business Services, 31 July 2026
Mandatory fuel price reporting through Service Victoria began on 6 August 2025. On 10 March 2026, Victoria added a second layer: the maximum daily fuel price cap. Victorian fuel price reporting is no longer a single price update. It is a daily compliance workflow.
Two details are easy to miss. The cap is a ceiling, not an opening price — you are not required to start the day at the cap. And if you do not submit a cap by 2pm, the system automatically carries over the previous day's prices, which may not be what you intended.
Victorian penalties are set out in the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading (Code of Practice for Fuel Retailers) Regulations 2025. Infringement notices exceed $3,000 per breach, and court penalties can exceed $24,000 and may result in a conviction.
Both regulators are actively inspecting and publicly naming non-compliant sites.
In South Australia, Consumer and Business Services reported on 31 July 2026 that it had conducted more than 1,000 fuel price inspections since March, issuing nearly $20,000 in expiations and naming 26 service stations. The breakdown is instructive: 18 breaches were for showing a fuel as available when it was not, and 8 were price discrepancies. Fuel availability, not price, is where most operators are getting caught.
In Victoria, the most recent published figure is from 13 April 2026, when the Victorian Government reported more than $80,000 in fines issued to more than 25 retailers since the price cap commenced on 10 March. Servo Saver had passed 520,000 users at that point, and Consumer Affairs Victoria is sharing fuel data with the ACCC.
The message from both states is the same. Fuel price reporting is not background admin any more. It needs to be accurate, timely, and easy for your team to manage.
Manual reporting creates three problems for fuel retailers:
Fuel price reporting is not only about compliance. It is also about customer confidence.
EM Forecourt™ is the GaP Solutions forecourt management and point-of-sale system for fuel retailers, integrating pump control, fuel transactions, shop trading and reporting in one platform. For eligible sites in South Australia and Victoria, it can also support automatic communication with the relevant state fuel pricing system — the SA Fuel Pricing Information Scheme in South Australia, and Service Victoria for Servo Saver in Victoria.
Instead of changing the price at the site and then re-entering it in a government portal, the reporting step is connected to the pricing workflow that is already happening.
One price change.
Less double handling. More control.
Within 30 minutes of the price changing at the bowser. The Fair Trading (Fuel Pricing Information) Regulations 2021 require the price to be entered into the aggregation system as close in time as possible to the change, and in any event no more than 30 minutes after it takes effect. Fuel unavailability must also be reported.
From 30 July 2026, the expiation fee is $5,000 and the maximum penalty is $20,000. These replaced the previous $550 expiation fee and $10,000 maximum. Consumer and Business Services has conducted more than 1,000 inspections since March 2026 and publicly names non-compliant service stations.
Between 8.30am and 2pm the day before the cap applies, for each fuel type at each site. The cap is published on Servo Saver by 4pm and takes effect from 6am the following day for 24 hours. If no cap is submitted by 2pm, the previous day's prices carry over automatically.
Yes, but only downwards. The published cap is the maximum price for that 24-hour period. Retailers can reduce prices at any time, but once reduced they cannot raise them again until the cap resets at 6am the next day. Every change, including reductions, must be reported within 30 minutes.
Yes. In both South Australia and Victoria, obligations apply per service station and per fuel type. Multi-site operators must register and report for every location they are responsible for.
Yes. For eligible sites, EM Forecourt™ from GaP Solutions can support automatic communication with the SA Fuel Pricing Information Scheme and with Service Victoria for Servo Saver, reducing the need to re-enter prices manually in a separate portal after every change.
Talk to GaP Solutions about how EM Forecourt™ can support automatic communication with the SA Fuel Pricing Information Scheme and Service Victoria, and what it would take to set your sites up.
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