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11 Int'l J. Franchising L. 3 (2013)

handle is hein.journals/intjoflw11 and id is 1 raw text is: FRANCHISING REGULATION IN AUSTRALIA FRANCHIULAT N AUSTRALINT T NS AN CURRENT ISUES Michael T. Schaper, Deputy Chairman, Australian Competition & Consumer Commission; Adjunct Professor, School ofManagement, Curtin University, Western Australia and Jason Gehrke, Director, Franchise Advisory Centre; Adjunct Lecturer, Griffith University Business School, Queensland, Australia; Deputy Chairman, Franchise Council ofAustralia The Australian franchising sector consists of almost 1,200 different franchise systems and some 73,000 individual franchisee units. Since 1998, a mandatory national industry code of practice, the Franchis ing Code of Conduct, has spelt out certain prescribed minimum standards of information disclosure, dispute resolution and associated issues. Franchising is also subject to the Competition and Consumer Act. Both of these laws are enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which also has responsibility for educating the sector. This article broadly outlines the current state of Australian franchising, explains the key elements of both the Code and Act that are relevant to franchise systems, and gives a brief overview of the ACCC's enforcement and education work in the sector. It concludes by discussing some recent developments, including the introduction of Small Business Commissioners, possible pecuniary penalties for breaches of the Franchising Code, state-based franchising laws, and increasing international linkages between franchising regulators. Introduction As in a number of other nations, franchising is big business in Australia. The sector accounts for a sizeable proportion of economic activity and employment, and today is home to more than a thousand different franchise systems. Once largely unregulated, since 1998 the sector has been governed by a framework of competition and sector- . The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) or the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA). specific rules designed to provide franchisees and would-be franchisees with a number of protections - both before and after signing up to a franchise agreement contract. Whilst the number of countries with franchise- specific legislation is still small, the Australian model is an unusual hybrid amongst existing regulatory regimes: it is based largely upon a specific Franchising Code of Conduct, which in turn draws its authority as delegated legislation under the national Competition & Consumer Act. In practice, however, much of the effective regulation of good International Jounal of Franchisiing Law Volume 11- Issue 1 2013 C Clerhout Publishing Ltd 3

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