If you tap and go in Aust, in 80% of the places I go to spend anyway, there is no fee, I have used it at Coles and a lot of the public transport recharge places (online/standalone booths), Bunnings, eg no charge/surcharge, guess the vendor/store/business bears the cost, so no $1.95 (within Aust)...
Also no surcharge in my ventures to NZ too, eg, NZ Subway eateries)/AT hop recharge/Metroinfo recharges/Metlink recharges.
But if you use the card at some newsagencies in Aust, then there is the credit card surcharge of maybe Aud$0.50, like the newsagencies at SYDdom to recharge Opal, they charge a %, but no as high as Aud$1.95.
Lots of hotels will charge 1.5% of the check out transaction though as a credit card surcharge, sliding scale.
Even using the VGW to pay Optus post paid bills on their website, its a sliding % of the bill cost, so on $40, its $0.15, so not as high as Aud$1.95.
Foreign/local ATM usage, thats where they will zap you the Aud$1.95, I have not used this, so can't say for sure.
But every tap and go in Aust, in supermarkets and 80% of the stores I visit, ((yes, I know, a very low earn rate of 0.33 points per Aud$1 spent, but still, at least its something)), I have never been charged a surcharge.
If you can be approved for a true cardit card, and can forego paying with cash, and can pay off the debt. then probably the VGW is not really a good thing, but if you have no other choice, then VGW or to a lesser extent, QCC is the main one to hold.
Sorry for the fluff.
Edit: not spruking the ING Orange card, but that is a very good one to have for ATM withdrawals overseas, if you deposit Aud$1000 a month, before the trip, you don't pay ATM/international transaction fees from next year.