The Franchising Inquiry

In March 2019 the Commonwealth Senate Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services released its report, Fairness in Franchising after a major parliamentary inquiry into the franchising industry.

The report calls for wide ranging changes to the Franchising Code of Conduct to improve the relationship between franchisors and franchisees.

In particular, the Report sets out new procedures to enhance the opportunity for the resolution of disputes that occur between franchisors and franchisees:

• The dispute resolution scheme under the Franchising Code include binding arbitration with the capacity to award remedies, compensation, interest and costs.
• The Franchising Code be amended to allow a mediator or arbitrator to undertake multi-franchisee resolutions when disputes relating to similar issues arise.