Albany Unleaded Lifts 15 Cents While Perth Servos Hold Diesel Under 239
According to pricing data collected at 2:12pm AEST on Friday 28th Aug 2026, 12:12pm in Perth, unleaded in Albany averages 205.2 cents per litre across six stations, up 15.3 cents on the previous reading of 189.9. It is the largest movement in our national data this round, and it returns the south coast centre to the wrong side of 200 cents.
A rise of that size reads as substantial against the one and two cent drifts recorded in the eastern states this week. It also needs to be read against the way Western Australia actually sets its prices.
Why WA prices move in steps
WA is the only mainland jurisdiction where a retailer nominates a price for a full trading day and is then held to it. Prices change at midnight Perth time, and the following day's prices are published at 2:30pm the afternoon before. WA motorists are the only drivers in the country who can see tomorrow's number before deciding whether to fill up today.
That structure is why WA suburbs post moves of ten or fifteen cents in a single reading while unleaded petrol prices elsewhere creep along a cent at a time. There is no gradual climb. A servo either holds or it resets, and when four or five operators in a regional centre reset on the same night, the suburb average moves in one step. The Perth metro cycle typically bottoms out on a Tuesday and peaks on a Wednesday. Regional centres such as Albany run to their own rhythm, because far fewer sites are competing for the same traffic.
Albany in national context
Even after adding 15.3 cents, Albany is not the dearest centre on the board. Queensland has three suburbs sitting above it: Goodna at 206.7 after a 6.8 cent rise, Gin Gin at 206.1, and the Lockyer Valley at 206.0 despite shedding 13.9 cents this round. The dearest mover of the lot is in South Australia, where the Barossa lifted 14.2 cents to 222.1 across five stations, a full 17 cents above Albany.
So Albany drivers have absorbed a notable increase and are still filling up more cheaply than motorists in several Queensland and South Australian centres that moved by less.
Perth holds the cheapest diesel in the west
Diesel is running the other way. Kwinana Beach and Bassendean both average 238.4 cents, the cheapest suburb averages for diesel prices anywhere in the state. Kwinana Beach has six reporting sites with only 8.2 cents between its cheapest and dearest, while Bassendean opens at 235.3 across four sites.
Forrestfield and Pinjarra both average 239.6, and Wanneroo and Maddington both sit on 241.2 across eight and nine sites respectively. The single cheapest litre of diesel anywhere in WA is 229.9 at Byford, though Byford is worth a note of caution for anyone driving on the average rather than the individual price. Its suburb figure of 243.5 conceals a 24 cent spread between its five sites, so the servo you pick matters more there than most.
Regional WA is holding firm as well. West Busselton averages 242.6 and East Bunbury 243.0, both comfortably under the state figure. The tidiest result belongs to Darkan, where four sites are priced between 241.6 and 241.9, a spread of three tenths of a cent. That is effectively one price across an entire town, and it is the sort of uniformity you only see where a daily pricing regime removes any advantage in undercutting a neighbour by a fraction.
Where the state sits
Across 1,213 reporting stations, WA diesel averages 256.7 cents. That is second dearest of the mainland majors, behind South Australia on 257.6 and ahead of Queensland on 255.8, Victoria on 254.5 and New South Wales on 254.1. The Northern Territory remains well clear of the field at 292.5.
A daily price regime tends to produce that exact shape. WA diesel sits mid pack nationally on the average, while its suburb pricing is unusually tight, which is why Perth so often holds the cheapest metro diesel in the country even when the state figure looks unremarkable.
What it means at the pump
For Albany motorists the lever is timing rather than location. With only six sites in town and a price that locks in for 24 hours at a stretch, checking tomorrow's published figure on a Thursday or Friday afternoon is worth more than driving across town on the day. Our guide on the best time to fill up sets out how the daily reset works in the west.
Location and timing remain the two levers that matter in fuel savings. In Western Australia this week, timing is doing nearly all of the work.
