How the fuel levy is worked out

Every figure on this site comes from the steps below. Each statement and claim pack repeats the working for its own figures, so whoever receives it can check them.

The basic sum

A fuel levy here covers the change in the price of diesel since 6 March 2026, for the fuel the work uses:

levy per unit of work = (this period's diesel price − 6 March diesel price) × fuel used per unit of work

A unit of work is an hour, a kilometre or a load, whichever the work is paid by. The levy for a period is the levy per unit × the units of work done in it. If this period's price is at or below the 6 March price, the levy is $0, never a negative amount.

Worked example

A tandem tipper on hourly hire uses about 8.0 litres an hour. Diesel was 184.3c a litre on 6 March and averages 248.5c this month. Working without GST (see below), the price change is (248.5 − 184.3) ÷ 1.1 = 58.36c a litre, so the levy is 8.0 × 58.36c = $4.67 an hour. For 160 hours, that's $747.20.

Diesel prices

Prices are the Australian Institute of Petroleum's (AIP) diesel terminal gate prices for the nearest capital city, in cents per litre including GST. Terminal gate prices are wholesale prices, published daily for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Hobart.

• 6 March 2026: AIP's price for that day. You can type your own figure instead. The order compares with what fuel cost on or before 6 March, and prices rose about 11c on 6 March itself, so fuel bought earlier that week may have cost less.
• This month: by default, the average of AIP's daily prices for the city over the month. In November 2026 it counts from 23 November, when the order restarted. Until a month has prices on file, the latest price is used and labelled as such. You can choose the latest price instead, or type your own.
• Round one (21 April to 7 June 2026): each period's price is the average of AIP's daily prices over the period. For Melbourne you can also use the Victorian Government's tip-truck schedule, which prices each fortnight on the Wednesday before it starts.

We update the prices each week. We record single figures with their source, and each city's weekly average is checked against AIP's published national figure. Your own prices always take priority if you type them in.

GST

Terminal gate prices include GST. If you're registered for GST you claim the GST on fuel back, so by default the price change is worked out without GST (divided by 1.1). Choose "Include GST" if you're not registered. The Victorian Government's tip-truck table is worked out including GST.

Fuel use

The best figure is your own, from fuel receipts or fuel card statements against hours, kilometres or loads. Where you don't have one, the calculators offer typical figures:

Per kilometre, fuel use is L/100 km ÷ 100. Per hour, it's L/100 km ÷ 100 × average speed while working. You enter the average speed for the national averages, because no published speed fits all work. National averages cover very different trucks and jobs, so treat them as a starting point only.

Three ways of working out a levy

Businesses use different methods, and they can give very different answers. The check-a-claim tool works out all three:

1. Fuel used × price change. The sum above. It ties the levy to the fuel the work actually uses.
2. Price change % × fuel share of the rate. If fuel is, say, 30% of the rate and diesel is up 34.8%, the levy is 30% × 34.8% = 10.4% of the rate. This agrees with method 1 when the fuel share matches the truck's real fuel use.
3. Price change % × a portion of the rate. Some claim forms apply the percentage change to a "transport cost" portion. If that portion is the whole rate, every dollar of the rate is treated as fuel, which usually gives about three times method 1. The tools warn when this happens.

Rounding

The levy per unit is rounded to the cent first, then multiplied by the units, the way an invoice line reads (for example $4.67 × 160 hours). Totals are sums of the rounded lines, so every document adds up. Rounding is half away from zero.

Subcontractors and clients

In the monthly tool, each subcontractor's levy uses their own fuel use and work. Each client's claim is the levy for subcontractor work done for that client, plus the fuel your own trucks used for them × the price change. What goes down to subcontractors and what goes up to clients therefore balance, apart from your own trucks.

Averaging is optional. Some agreements use one fuel figure for a group of subcontractors. If you turn averaging on, fuel use is averaged only across subcontractors with the same truck type and pay basis, weighted by work done. Averaging across different truck types would move money from heavy trucks to light ones. Averaging also moves money within a group: subcontractors who use less fuel than average get more, and those who use more get less.

Switch-off check

The order's obligations stop after the weekly average national terminal gate price for diesel, as published in AIP's Weekly Diesel Prices Report, is under 200c a litre for four weeks in a row. The monthly tool shows the latest weekly figure and the count of weeks in a row under 200c. Once four weeks have passed, the tool treats the order as switched off, because restarting it would take a new Fair Work Commission decision. Check the Fair Work Ombudsman's page for the current position.

Fuel tax credits

Fuel excise was cut, and the heavy vehicle road user charge reduced, from 30 March 2026, then restored in steps to normal on 3 August 2026. In periods where tax settings differed from 6 March, the change in the terminal gate price may not match the change in what fuel actually cost a business claiming fuel tax credits. The round-one tool flags those periods. Your accountant can tell you whether it matters for you.

What the tools don't do

They work out figures and show the working. They don't say whether the Fair Work Commission's fuel cost recovery order covers you, which method you should use, or what anyone has to pay. For that, see the Fair Work Ombudsman's page on the order, or get advice.