Disclosure document deadlines: the 4-month annual update and on-request updates

• The update must reflect the position of the franchise and franchisor at the date of the update, plus any relevant Code amendments since the last update (s21(2)).
• A franchisee can ask in writing for an updated copy once every 12 months; you must update it to the end of the previous financial year and give it within 2 months (s32 and s33).
• Between updates, materially relevant facts must be notified within 14 days (s34) and shown under item 22 when you give the document.
• Late annual or on-request updates can attract up to 600 penalty units each, $218,400 per contravention from 1 July 2026.
• Your financial year is the 12-month period for which financial statements relating to the franchise are prepared (s6), which may not end on 30 June.

Count 4 months from the first day of your financial year. Fund statements fall due on the same date (s31), and the Register confirmation follows on the 14th day of the fifth month after year end (s93).

• 30 June year end: the year starts 1 July, so the update is due by 31 October. Fund statements are due the same day, and the Register confirmation by 14 November.
• 31 December year end: the year starts 1 January, so the update is due by 30 April. Register confirmation by 14 May.
• 31 March year end: the year starts 1 April, so the update is due by 31 July. Register confirmation by 14 August.
• 30 September year end: the year starts 1 October, so the update is due by 31 January. Register confirmation by 14 February.
• Next dates as at September 2026: 31 October 2026 for a 30 June year end, and 30 April 2027 for a 31 December year end.

1. On the first day of your financial year, are you a party to at least one franchise agreement? If not, s21 doesn't apply this year.
2. Did you enter into 2 or more franchise agreements in the previous financial year? If yes, you must update.
3. If not, do you, or your directors if you're a company, intend to enter into another franchise agreement this financial year? If yes, you must update.
4. If neither applies, s21 doesn't require the annual update. A franchisee's s32 request still triggers one, and check with your lawyer which version s23(5) requires before you offer a new franchise.
5. Renewals, extensions and transfers are each taken to be a franchise agreement (s7(2)), so they may count towards the test. Get advice if you're close to the line.

• The position of the franchise and the franchisor as at the date of the update (s21(2)(a)).
• Any relevant amendments to the Code since the document was created or last updated (s21(2)(b)).
• Financial details (item 21): a director-signed solvency statement as at the end of the last financial year, with 2 years of financial reports or an independent audit completed within 4 months of year end.
• Existing and former franchisees (item 6), including transfers, terminations and other events over the last 3 financial years.
• The percentage of franchisees in mediation, conciliation or arbitration in the previous financial year (item 4(4)).
• Every specific purpose fund (item 15), with a copy of the most recent annual fund statement.
• Significant capital expenditure (items 14(1A) and 14(1B)) and unilateral variations over the last 3 financial years (item 17).
• A new preparation date and signature on the first page (item 1), and an updated table of contents that lists attachments (s20(6)).

1. A franchisee asks in writing for a copy of the disclosure document (s32(1)).
2. They can ask only once every 12 months (s32(2)), and can ask for printed form, electronic form or both (s32(3)).
3. You update it to reflect the position of the franchise at the end of the previous financial year (s33(a)).
4. You give it to them within 2 months of the date of the request, in the form they asked for (s33(b)).
5. Worked example: a request dated 15 September 2026 to a franchisor with a 30 June year end needs a document updated to 30 June 2026, delivered by 15 November 2026.
6. If you intend to extend an agreement, your end-of-term notice must say the franchisee may request a disclosure document under s32 (s36(3)).
7. Keep the request (s37(1)) and the document you gave (s37(3)) for at least 6 years.

• The 2014 Code (Schedule 1, clause 8(6) and (7)) required an update within 4 months after the end of each financial year, unless the franchisor entered into no more than 1 agreement that year and didn't intend to enter into another the next year.
• For disclosure documents given before 1 April 2025 for deals on or after that date, the old rule continued until the end of 31 October 2025, and s21 didn't apply to them before 1 November 2025 (s99(3) and (4)).
• The Code's own examples: a financial year ending before 1 November 2025, such as 30 June 2025, was updated under the old rule, with s21 applying to every later year. A year ending on or after 1 November 2025, such as 31 December 2025, is updated under s21.
• The ACCC said disclosure documents had to be updated by 1 November 2025, even if your financial year didn't end on 30 June 2025, to add the new capex and fund items.
• The Key Facts Sheet, which the old Code also required franchisors to update each year, was abolished on 1 April 2025.

• Ultra Tune: in March 2024 the Federal Court fined it $1.5 million for contempt of court for breaching 2019 orders, which included failing on one occasion to update its disclosure document on time. The Full Federal Court dismissed its appeal in January 2025.
• The civil penalty for a late s21 or s33 update is up to 600 penalty units: $218,400 for conduct from 1 July 2026, or $198,000 at the previous $330 unit value for conduct from 7 November 2024 to 30 June 2026.
• The ACCC can instead issue an infringement notice of 60 penalty units ($21,840) to a company. Paying one isn't an admission.
• Other annual deadlines are being policed too: Cash Converters and Mobile Travel Agents paid $16,500 each in June 2025 over alleged failures to update or confirm their Register entries, and Luxottica Franchising Australia paid $19,800 in March 2026 after missing its May 2025 Register update.

• Your financial year end and every annual deadline are in the compliance calendar.
• The s21 test is recorded each year, with the number of agreements and the board's intentions.
• Item 21 financial documents and fund statements are scheduled to be ready before the update is due.
• A process logs s32 requests and tracks the 2-month deadline.
• Materially relevant facts are notified within 14 days and shown under item 22.
• The Register confirmation is diarised for the 14th day of the fifth month after year end.