The ACT Government says it has strengthened fuel supply monitoring and consumer protections, with new legislation designed to improve transparency during periods of fuel market disruption.

The ACT Legislative Assembly has passed the Government’s Fuel Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, which it says will give authorities better access to information about fuel availability and supply conditions across the territory.

Under the changes, the ACT Government will be able to require fuel retailers to provide timely data on stock levels and expected deliveries, with the aim of improving decision-making during supply disruptions.

The amendments modify the Fuels Rationing Act 2019 to allow the Minister for Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water to request supply information from fuel sellers when needed.

The ACT Government says the information will help it better understand real-time fuel availability, respond to changing conditions, and protect households, businesses and essential services — while also safeguarding commercially sensitive data.

Penalties have been introduced for retailers who fail to provide required information, alongside strengthened enforcement powers. At the same time, protections have been included to ensure confidential commercial data is not misused or disclosed outside the scope of the legislation.

Consumer protections have also been tightened, with amendments to the Fair Trading (Fuel Prices) Act 1993 increasing penalties for fuel price mismatching from 20 to 50 penalty units.

The ACT Government says the measures are intended to improve transparency and fairness during periods of market stress, and are broadly consistent with approaches taken in other jurisdictions during recent fuel supply disruptions.

However, it stresses the legislation does not introduce fuel rationing, nor are there any current plans to do so.

Authorities say fuel supply in the ACT remains stable, with any short-term outages at service stations typically resolved as deliveries arrive.

The ACT Government is also urging Canberrans to continue buying fuel as normal, warning that unnecessary stockpiling can create pressure on local service stations and contribute to avoidable shortages.

ACT Government says it will continue working with the federal government and other states and territories to monitor national fuel supply and demand.