Vulcan advised using home heating oil #1 in these heaters. Back in the '60s and '70s, this could be delivered by a tanker turning up to your home and pumping it straight into the oil tank on the side of the house.
In Tasmania, and other parts of Australia, I belivee this is still possible to arrange. In the other capital cities, it's unclear whether this remains an available option.
Home heating oil #1 is very similar (and smells the same) as kerosene. Having used this myself I'd strongly suggest using just plain kerosene. There are a number of forum postings online where people claim they use diesel and it works just as well as "proper" heating oil. There are also some suggestions of mixing diesel and kerosene for a slightly less viscous oil, at roughly an 80% diesel / 20% kerosene ratio.
The above is provided as information only. Using anything other than #1 home heating oil or kerosene isn't recommended. Do NOT use petrol or any other volatile or flammable fuel as an alternative.
Most oil tanks were 100-gallon tanks (nearly 400 litres), so filling one from jerry cans bought at a service station will take many cans!