ACCC
What it means
The ACCC is Australia's competition, consumer and franchising regulator. It administers the Franchising Code of Conduct, which is a mandatory industry code made under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Because the Code is law, a breach of it is a breach of the Act that the ACCC can act on, not merely a private contractual matter between a franchisor and a franchisee.
The ACCC's franchising role covers education, monitoring and enforcement. It publishes guidance, runs the public Franchise Disclosure Register, monitors conduct across the sector, investigates complaints from franchisees, and takes action against franchisors who fail to disclose, act in bad faith, or otherwise contravene the Code.
Enforcement tools escalate with the seriousness of the conduct. For many Code obligations the ACCC can issue infringement notices or seek civil penalties of up to 600 penalty units. For the most serious breaches the maximum civil penalty is the greater of $10 million, three times the benefit gained, or 10% of the body corporate's annual turnover.
In practice
For a prospective franchisee, the ACCC is both a source of free information and the body you can complain to. Its website hosts plain-English guides, the Disclosure Register, and a small-business information line, and it is the first port of call if a franchisor refuses to give you a disclosure document or pressures you to sign early.
For franchisors, the ACCC sets the compliance bar. It expects timely disclosure, good-faith dealing, and accurate representations, and in 2025 it publicly signalled tougher scrutiny, issuing infringement notices to franchisors for Code breaches. Treating the Code as a baseline rather than a ceiling is the safest posture.
A real example
In 2025 the ACCC issued infringement notices to several franchisors for failing to meet their Code obligations, with penalties in the range of roughly $15,000 to $16,500 per notice. For a franchisee, this shows the regulator does act on paperwork failures, so if a franchisor cannot produce a current disclosure document on request, that is a red flag worth raising with the ACCC before signing anything.
ACCC — FAQs
Does the ACCC approve franchises before they can sell?
No. The ACCC does not licence, approve or vet franchise systems. It enforces the Code after the fact, so the absence of ACCC action is not a sign a system is sound.
Can the ACCC resolve my individual dispute with my franchisor?
Generally no. The ACCC enforces the law in the public interest; individual disputes usually go through the Code's dispute resolution process and mediation, often via the ASBFEO.
What are the maximum penalties the ACCC can pursue?
For serious Code breaches, the greater of $10 million, three times the benefit gained, or 10% of annual turnover; lesser breaches attract infringement notices or penalties up to 600 penalty units.
Should I report a franchisor to the ACCC?
You can. The ACCC uses complaints as intelligence to decide where to investigate. Reporting will not necessarily fix your own dispute, but it helps the regulator spot patterns of misconduct.
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