The short answer
What is the average gas bill in Australia?
The average gas bill in Australia is roughly $229 a quarter, or about $900 a year, but that single number is one of the most misleading averages in energy. Gas is seasonal: a home that heats with gas can burn two to three times as much in winter as in summer, so an annual average quietly blends a steep July bill with a near-empty January one. It is also lopsided by state, because a Victorian home that heats with gas can pay around three times what a Perth home pays across a year. On top of usage sits a fixed daily supply charge of roughly 70 c to $1 a day, which makes a low-use gas account poor value per megajoule. This page gives you the real averages by state and household size, then explains why the headline figure is the wrong number to plan around.
Here is the core takeaway in one line: the average gas bill in Australia is about $229 a quarter, but the number you should actually plan around is your winter quarter, which can run two to three times a summer one if you heat with gas. Gas is billed in MJ (megajoule, the unit your gas is metered in), and 1 GJ is 1,000 MJ. Because so much of the bill is heating, the state you live in matters more than almost anything else: South Australia and Victoria sit at the top, Western Australia at the bottom. So the right question is not "what is the average?" but "what does my winter look like, and is gas still the cheapest way to run my home?"
Reframe the assumption: a single "average gas bill" feels like a benchmark you can compare yourself to. It is not. It blends a steep winter quarter with a near-empty summer one, and a gas-heavy Melbourne home with a cooking-only Perth one. Treat the annual average as a rough national midpoint, then look at your own state and season instead.
Average gas bill by state, 2026
What households pay across Australia
Indicative quarterly survey averages by state. The gap between the cheapest and dearest state is roughly double, driven almost entirely by how much each state heats with gas.
| State (capital) | Per quarter | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Western Australia (Perth) | $142 | $570 |
| Queensland (Brisbane) | $170 | $680 |
| New South Wales (Sydney) | $176 | $705 |
| Australian Capital Territory | $190 | $760 |
| Victoria (Melbourne) | $235 | $940 |
| South Australia (Adelaide) | $285 | $1,140 |
Average gas bill by household size
From a 1 person to a 4 person household
Indicative ranges, expressed as a multiple of a typical state average. More people lifts hot water and cooking, but gas heating is the real swing factor.
| Household | Of state average | Per quarter | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person household | 0.6x | $135 to $170 | $540 to $680 |
| 2 person household | 0.85x | $190 to $245 | $770 to $980 |
| 3 person household | 1.0x | $225 to $290 | $900 to $1,150 |
| 4 person household | 1.3x | $295 to $370 | $1,170 to $1,480 |
The blind spot
Why most average gas bill figures mislead you
Most guides to the "average gas bill" quote one national number and stop there, and that single habit costs readers money in three ways.
First, they average away the season. A gas-heated home burns two to three times as much gas in winter as in summer, so an annual or quarterly average sits in the middle of a range you will almost never actually pay. Plan your budget around the average and the July bill still lands as a shock.
Second, they blend states that have nothing in common. Victoria heats heavily with gas and South Australia runs cold winters, so both sit near $235 to $285 a quarter, while Perth's mild winters keep it near $142. Quoting a national $229 to a Melbourne reader understates their winter, and to a Perth reader overstates their whole year.
Third, they ignore the fixed daily supply charge. Roughly 70 c to $1 a day, around $65 to $90 a quarter, is charged before you burn a single megajoule. For a low-use home that only cooks with gas, that fixed cost can be most of the bill, which makes the gas connection itself, not the usage, the thing worth questioning.
How a gas average is really built
Expert analysis: what an average gas bill actually blends
What a gas "average" is really mixing together
An average gas bill is the mean of wildly different households: a Melbourne home with gas ducted heating, a Sydney flat with a gas cooktop and nothing else, a Perth home that barely touches gas in winter. It blends usage measured in MJ (megajoule, the unit your gas is billed in) with the fixed daily supply charge, then averages across all four seasons. The result is a number that describes no real household particularly well. Think of it like the average temperature of a fridge and an oven: technically correct, useless for deciding what to wear.
Why gas averages mislead more than electricity averages
Electricity use is reasonably steady across the year for most homes, so an electricity average is a fair guide. Gas is the opposite on two axes at once. It is seasonal, because the bulk of residential gas goes to heating and hot water, so winter use can be two to three times summer use. It is also geographically lopsided: a Victorian home that heats with gas can pay around three times what a Perth home pays across a year, because one state runs on gas heat and the other barely uses it. Average across both swings and you flatten the very thing that determines your bill. For the electricity equivalent, where averaging is far safer, see our average electricity bill guide.
An annual average hides the winter spike
This is the practical trap. A household sees "about $900 a year" and budgets around $225 a quarter, then the winter bill arrives at $350 or more and the summer one at $120. The annual figure was accurate and the quarterly budget was still wrong, because the money does not arrive in four equal slices. If you heat with gas, the only safe plan is to size your budget to the winter quarter and let the cheaper quarters bank the difference.
The daily supply charge makes low-use gas poor value per MJ
Every gas account pays a fixed daily supply charge of roughly 70 c to $1 a day whether or not you use any gas. For a home that heats with gas, that fixed cost is a small share of a large bill. For a home that only cooks with gas, it can be the majority of the bill, which means you are paying a high effective rate per MJ for very little gas. That is the point where keeping the gas connection at all stops making financial sense, a calculation generic averages never prompt you to do.
Interactive explainer
Average gas bill comparator
Pick your state and household size to see the indicative average, then enter your own quarterly bill to see how far above or below average you sit, with a winter-spike caveat.
Your indicative average gas bill
Based on indicative 2026 survey averages. Heating, not headcount, is the biggest driver.
Indicative average for this profile
$/quarter (indicative)
Comparing a single quarter against an annual-average quarter can mislead: if your bill is a winter one, being above average is expected. Compare like with like, season for season.
Indicative only, not a quote. Figures derive from 2026 survey averages and household-size multipliers (1-person ~0.6x, 2-person ~0.85x, 3-person ~1.0x, 4-person ~1.3x); the winter and summer splits assume gas-heated use of roughly two to three times the off-season. Sources: Canstar Blue 2026, AER.
The same figures the widget uses are shown in the state table above, so you can read them without interacting.
What this means for real households
How the average misleads four very different homes
The averaging problem is not abstract. It is exactly how Australian households end up surprised by, or overpaying on, their gas:
The Melbourne family that budgets for the average
A four-person Melbourne home heats with ducted gas and budgets around $235 a quarter from the headline figure. The summer quarters come in near $130, lulling them into comfort, then the winter quarter lands above $350. The annual average was right; the monthly cash-flow plan built on it was wrong.
The Sydney flat that only cooks with gas
A two-person Sydney flat uses gas for cooking only, so its usage is tiny, yet the daily supply charge of roughly 70 c to $1 a day still adds up to $65 to $90 a quarter before any gas is burned. They are paying a high effective rate per MJ and would likely save by questioning the connection itself.
The Perth home comparing itself to a national figure
A Perth household reads that the average gas bill is $229 a quarter and worries they are doing something wrong at $142. They are not: mild winters mean little gas heating, and Western Australia simply sits at the bottom of the range. The national average was the wrong benchmark for them.
The Adelaide household chasing the winter spike
An Adelaide home with cold winter nights sees its winter gas bill jump well past the $285 state average and assumes a fault or a rate rise. In most cases it is simply seasonality doing exactly what it always does, magnified by South Australia's higher energy costs.
The insider insight
For some homes, the cheapest gas bill is no gas bill
Here is the part the average-gas-bill articles never say out loud. Because every gas account pays a fixed daily supply charge before any usage, a home that uses very little gas is paying a punishing effective rate per megajoule. If your gas does nothing but run a cooktop, the supply charge can be the majority of your bill, and the honest comparison is not "which gas plan is cheapest" but "is keeping gas connected cheaper than not having it at all". As more efficient electric appliances arrive, that calculation increasingly tips against a low-use gas connection.
The non-obvious truth: the average gas bill is most dangerous as a benchmark for low-use homes, not high-use ones. A heavy gas-heating home knows it spends a lot and shops accordingly. A cooking-only home compares itself to "$229 a quarter", feels fine at $120, and never notices that most of that $120 is the standing charge, not the gas. For that home, the saving is not in switching gas plans, it is in counting the connection itself as a cost worth questioning.
The practical consequence: separate your usage from your supply charge before you judge your bill. A high bill driven by winter heating is a plan-shopping problem; a stubborn bill on near-zero usage is a connection problem.
Grounded in the analysis
What you should actually do about your gas bill
Specific moves that follow from how gas is billed, not generic advice.
Budget for winter, not the average
If you heat with gas, size your monthly set-aside to the winter quarter, not the annual average. The summer quarters will bank a surplus that absorbs the July spike instead of being caught short by it.
Split usage from supply charge
Read your bill for the daily supply charge separately from usage. If the fixed charge is most of your bill, you have a low-use connection, and the question shifts from which gas plan to whether the connection earns its keep.
Compare gas plans in the eastern states
In Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and the ACT, mains gas is sold competitively, so a quick compare can cut both the usage rate and the supply charge. Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not work the same way.
Want to dig into a single bill? Read our guide to your gas bill and our practical tips on how to reduce your gas bill, then estimate your own use with the gas usage calculator. To land under the average, see how to find the cheapest gas before you compare plans below.
Current figures, last updated 2026-06-15
Indicative average gas bill figures for 2026. State, city and household numbers are indicative survey averages, not quotes for your address. Sources: Canstar Blue 2026, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC). Gas is billed in MJ (megajoule); 1 GJ is 1,000 MJ. Gas is not covered by the DMO or VDO reference prices.
The bottom line
Why this matters right now
The average gas bill in Australia, about $229 a quarter, is a fine headline and a poor planning tool. The number that actually decides your year is your winter quarter, and the number that decides whether gas is even worth keeping is your daily supply charge against your usage. Use the state and household figures here as a sanity check, not a target: a Perth cook and a Melbourne ducted-heating family share a national average and almost nothing else. Budget for winter, separate your usage from your standing charge, and in the eastern states where gas is sold competitively, compare plans so the rate underneath that bill is as sharp as it can be. That habit, not the headline average, is what keeps your gas spend honest.
Common questions
A Selectra expert answers your average gas bill questions
The average gas bill in Australia is roughly $229 a quarter, or about $900 a year, based on indicative 2026 survey figures (Canstar Blue). That national figure blends very different states and seasons, so treat it as a starting point, not a target. Homes that heat with gas pay far more in winter than in summer, and a Victorian gas-heated home can pay around three times what a Perth home pays across a year. Your own bill depends on whether you heat with gas, how cold your winters are and the fixed daily supply charge of about 70 c to $1 a day.
Melbourne sits near the Victorian average, around $235 a quarter, or roughly $940 a year, on indicative 2026 figures. It is the highest mainland-capital gas spend, and for one clear reason: Victoria has the deepest reliance on mains gas for home heating in the country. That means the winter quarter does most of the damage, often two to three times a summer quarter, while the headline annual average smooths it out. If you heat with gas in Melbourne, plan around the July bill, not the year-average one.
The average gas bill in Sydney is about $176 a quarter, or roughly $705 a year, on indicative 2026 figures, sitting close to the New South Wales average. Sydney runs lower than Melbourne mainly because milder winters and lower gas-heating reliance pull usage down. Many Sydney homes use gas only for cooking and hot water rather than heating, which keeps the usage component small and leaves the fixed daily supply charge as a larger share of the bill.
Perth has the lowest average gas bill of the mainland capitals, around $142 a quarter, or roughly $570 a year, on indicative 2026 figures. Mild winters mean little gas heating, so most Perth gas goes to cooking and hot water. Note that Western Australia is a separate gas market without the open retail competition of the eastern states, so the comparison shopping that works in Melbourne or Sydney does not apply the same way in Perth.
Adelaide tends to record the highest average gas bill of the capitals, around $285 a quarter, or roughly $1,140 a year, in line with the South Australian average on indicative 2026 figures. Cold winter nights and solid gas-heating use lift the winter quarter, and South Australian energy costs sit high generally. As with Melbourne, the annual average hides a sharp seasonal spike, so the winter bill is the one to budget for.
A four-person household typically uses more gas than the state average, roughly 1.3 times, so an indicative bill lands around $295 to $370 a quarter, or about $1,170 to $1,480 a year, depending on the state and on whether you heat with gas. More people means more hot water and cooking, but heating is the biggest swing factor: a four-person home in Melbourne that heats with gas will sit at the top of that range in winter, while a Perth home of the same size will sit well below it. These are indicative ranges, not a quote for your address.
