Improving the fuel efficiency of Australia’s light vehicle fleet can deliver substantial environmental and broader economic benefits.

This briefing paper builds on the significant amount of work already undertaken on this issue over the past decade by government, industry, consumer groups and others.

Despite these efforts, Australia lags behind most other developed economies in introducing regulated vehicle fuel efficiency standards, commonly referred to as CO2 emission standards because of the direct correlation between reducing fuel use and reducing CO2 emissions.

International experience shows that in order to capture the broad range of benefits from improved fuel efficiency, a suite of measures needs to be developed and implemented in collaboration with all stakeholders.