Franchise Disclosure Register
What it means
The Franchise Disclosure Register is a government-run transparency tool at franchisedisclosure.gov.au, administered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. It lets prospective franchisees look up franchisors and see standardised background information in one place before they engage with a sales process.
Franchisors must register key details, including their contact and registered-office information, the industry codes they operate in, how long the system has run in Australia, the number of franchised and company-owned units, and the states and territories in which they operate. New franchisors must be on the Register at least 14 days before entering a franchise agreement, and existing franchisors must update or confirm their details before 14 November each year.
Since the Franchising Code of Conduct 2025 took effect on 1 April 2025, full disclosure documents are no longer uploaded to or viewable on the Register. Instead, franchisors disclose specified background matters, such as certain convictions or insolvency events and whether their agreements allow arbitration. The Register is therefore a starting point for research, not a substitute for the full disclosure document a franchisor must give you directly.
In practice
Use the Register early to shortlist and sanity-check franchisors: confirm the system is actually registered, compare unit numbers and years operating across similar brands, and note any disclosed background matters worth asking about. A franchisor that is not listed when it should be is a warning sign.
Treat the Register as one input among several. Because it no longer holds full disclosure documents, you still need to request the complete disclosure document and agreement from the franchisor and run your own due diligence on the numbers and the network.
A real example
A prospective franchisee shortlists three coffee franchises and looks each up on the Franchise Disclosure Register. One is not listed at all despite actively recruiting, which the buyer flags as a compliance concern; of the other two, the Register shows one has shrunk from 40 to 22 units in two years, prompting closer questions about why franchisees are leaving.
Franchise Disclosure Register, FAQs
Who runs the Franchise Disclosure Register?
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) administers it, and it is available free to the public at franchisedisclosure.gov.au.
Can I read a franchisor's full disclosure document on the Register?
No. Since 1 April 2025 full disclosure documents are no longer viewable there. You obtain the full disclosure document directly from the franchisor.
When must a franchisor be on the Register?
A new franchisor must register at least 14 days before entering a franchise agreement, and existing franchisors must update or confirm their details before 14 November each year.
What can I learn from the Register?
Standardised details such as contact information, industry, years operating, number of franchised and company-owned units, states of operation, and certain disclosed background matters.
See the full franchise glossary, the Fee Index or our buyer guides.