In Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide there is no petrol price cycle to time right now: the ACCC records that cycles have mostly not run in those four cities since late February 2026, so the cheap end of a cycle is not coming and the useful move is to compare nearby sites. Perth is the exception, still cycling weekly with Tuesday the cheap day; nationally, petrol is 217.7 c/L, up 9.9 c/L on the week, and the wholesale market has not yet given a direction (6 of the 10 consecutive trading days the rule needs).
Whether a cycle is running where you are, today's median price, and what happened over the week.
| Capital | Median today | vs a week ago | Cycle | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SydneyGreater capital | 219.9 | +12.0 c/L | Suspended (normally ~5 weeks) | No cycle to time; compare nearby sites |
| MelbourneGreater capital | 211.9 | +7.7 c/L | Suspended (normally ~6 weeks) | No cycle to time; compare nearby sites |
| BrisbaneGreater capital | 219.9 | +10.6 c/L | Suspended (normally ~6.5 weeks) | No cycle to time; compare nearby sites |
| PerthGreater capital | 209.9 | +9.6 c/L | Running, weekly | Fill up before Wednesday; the trough is the day before |
| AdelaideGreater capital | 216.9 | +9.5 c/L | Suspended (normally ~2.5 weeks) | No cycle to time; compare nearby sites |
| HobartStatewide | 222.9 | +11.0 c/L | None published | No published cycle; compare nearby sites |
| DarwinStatewide | 227.9 | +11.7 c/L | None published | No published cycle; compare nearby sites |
| CanberraStatewide | 228.4 | +13.0 c/L | None published | No published cycle; compare nearby sites |
The weekly move is the whole state's median against its reading seven days earlier, the same figure each state page carries. Victoria's figures describe the previous day because its government feed is embargoed for 24 hours. Where a capital shows a statewide figure, the state publishes one panel rather than a capital and regional split.
Perth is different in a second way. Western Australia sets one price per site for a whole trading day, lodged with FuelWatch the afternoon before, so the price you see in Perthtoday was fixed yesterday and cannot move until midnight; tomorrow's schedule is published by 2:30 pm AWST on FuelWatch, which makes the cheap day knowable in advance rather than guessed. The ACCC records Perth's recent cycles at weekly intervals, priced lowest on a Tuesday and highest on the Wednesday after.
Source: State government fuel price feeds; ACCC petrol price cycles in the five largest citiesUpdated 15 September 2026ACCC Petrol Price Cycles in the 5 Largest CitiesHow we measure this
Wholesale petrol leads pump prices by one to two weeks, so it is the nearest thing to a timing signal in the cities with no cycle.
Today the rule cannot call a direction. It needs 10 consecutive trading days of terminal gate prices and has 6 since the AIP feed resumed on 8 September 2026, so the earliest it can return is about 21 September 2026, if every trading day publishes. Until then the observed change is the only guide: terminal gate petrol is 215.7 c/L, up 11.7 c/L since 8 September 2026.
The rule, why it sometimes withholds, and this week's pump and terminal gate moves by jurisdiction are on the price-direction page; the method is on the methodology page.
Diesel does not run the retail discounting rounds petrol does in any capital, so the wholesale direction is the whole timing story.
National diesel is 264.4 c/L, up 8.6 c/L on the week and 46.7 c/L above petrol. The day of the week makes no difference to a diesel fill; the wholesale reading in section 02 and the state pages' terminal gate lines are what move it.
The medians refresh with the twice-daily price run and the cycle finding moves only when the ACCC's does; the edits listed here are to the page's own wording and structure.
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 15 September 2026 | Page published: cycle status per capital from the ACCC's finding, today's medians and weekly moves from the site's own feeds, the Perth day-ahead rule, and the wholesale direction. |
A wrong figure here is fixed and recorded under the site's corrections policy.