Petrol and diesel prices in the Australian Capital Territory today

How have ACT petrol prices moved?

Over the 79 days since 14 July 2026, unleaded in the Australian Capital Territory has ranged between 175.9 and 248.9 c/L, a spread of 73.0 c/L. The typical day-to-day move is 1.5 c/L, and the largest single day move was -7.0 c/L on 10 August 2026. That puts ACT among the livelier quarter of the 8 jurisdictions reporting: prices here move more on an ordinary day than in most of the country. The median also stood still on 7 of the last 14 days. That is the panel rather than the market: a median only moves when the middle site reprices, and the Australian Capital Territory has few enough reporting sites for that to be a quiet event.

Why there is no Canberra versus regional split here

The Australian Capital Territory is a single urban area, so a capital versus regional split would compare Canberra with itself. Every ACT site sits inside Greater Canberra.

Does the Australian Capital Territory have a petrol price cycle?

Not on a weekly clock. Across 11 weeks of our own ACT readings, no single weekday stands out: the strongest is Tuesday, and it averages only +1.8 c/L, nowhere near enough to plan a fill-up around. The ACCC does not publish a price cycle for Canberra, monitoring cycles in the five largest cities only: prices here follow wholesale costs more than retailer discounting rounds, which is what our own readings show too.

Mean day-over-day change in the ACT unleaded median, by day of the week, over 78 consecutive-day pairs. A short window: treat it as this season's pattern rather than a permanent one. The cycle length, the description of Canberra and the timing guidance above are the ACCC Petrol Price Cycles in the 5 Largest Cities, last reviewed 18 August 2026; the weekday figures and the movement statistics are our own.

What do ACT retailers charge above the wholesale price?

The Australian Institute of Petroleum publishes a terminal gate price for every state and for the Northern Territory, but not for the Australian Capital Territory, which has no fuel terminal of its own and is supplied overland from Sydney. The retail margin comparison shown on the other jurisdiction pages therefore cannot be drawn here, and we do not estimate one.

For the same reason there is no wholesale direction for Canberra: the seven capitals AIP prices each carry one on their own pages, and the national direction is on the homepage.

Where these ACT fuel prices come from

Every figure on this page comes from FuelCheck, covering the ACT, run by the NSW Government platform, carrying ACT sites. It is the NSW FuelCheck scheme, which reports ACT sites alongside New South Wales ones - the territory has no price reporting platform of its own. We read it twice a day, take the median across the sites reporting, and publish it unaltered. We do not model, smooth or forecast the price.

That data is published under CC BY-SA 4.0. That is a share-alike licence, so this page and anything derived from it carry the same terms.

Fuel excise is the same in every state

Fuel excise is a Commonwealth tax, so it is identical in the Australian Capital Territory and everywhere else. It returned to 53.7 c/L on 3 August 2026, worth up to about 18.8 c/L at the pump once GST is applied. Differences between states come from freight, competition and local costs, never from tax. What fuel excise costs per tank.

How these figures are derived: pricing methodology. Ways to pay less: save on fuel. Timing a fill-up in ACT: should I fill up today?