Buying a fast food franchise in Australia: costs, leases and the numbers to test

• Quick-service food is the largest category in the analysis, with 205 profiles, yet the median system reported just 5 franchisees (196 profiles).
• Contract terms are strict: 183 of 189 profiles include a restraint of trade, and 177 of 200 restrict where franchisees can buy supplies.
• Award wages rose 4.75% from 1 July 2026. Under the Fast Food Industry Award a level 1 adult now earns at least $27.81 an hour, with higher rates for weekends, public holidays and late nights.
• The Fair Work Commission has said employees aged 18 to 20 with more than 6 months' service will move to adult rates, phased in and possibly from 1 December 2026.
• FSANZ lists takeaway shops among the businesses generally covered by Standard 3.2.2A, which requires a certified food safety supervisor and trained food handlers.

Ask for the setup estimate line by line. These are the items to expect, and each one should have a number next to it.

• The initial franchise fee and any training or establishment fees paid to the franchisor.
• Fit-out and shopfront: kitchen extraction, cool rooms, counters, signage and seating, built to the franchisor's design.
• Kitchen equipment: fryers, grills, ovens, refrigeration, and point-of-sale hardware and software.
• Lease costs: a bond or bank guarantee, rent in advance, the landlord's legal costs and any make-good obligations when the lease ends.
• Opening stock, uniforms, packaging and any launch marketing the franchisor requires.
• Legal and accounting advice, finance establishment costs and insurance.
• Working capital to cover wages, rent and supplier accounts until the outlet trades at a steady level.

Wages are a major ongoing cost in fast food, and underpayment carries legal risk for you and your franchisor. These rules come from the Fast Food Industry Award 2020 as consolidated at 1 July 2026.

• Minimum rates: a level 1 fast food employee earns at least $1,056.80 a week or $27.81 an hour, and a level 2 employee $29.45 an hour.
• Casuals: a 25% loading on the minimum hourly rate, and a minimum engagement of 3 consecutive hours.
• Weekends: full-time and part-time staff get 125% on Saturdays, and on Sundays 125% at level 1 and 150% at levels 2 and 3. Casual weekend rates are 25 percentage points higher.
• Public holidays: 225% for full-time and part-time staff and 250% for casuals.
• Late nights: weekday work between 10 pm and midnight attracts 110% (135% for casuals), and between midnight and 6 am 115% (140% for casuals).
• Juniors: under-21s are paid a share of the adult rate, from 40% under 16 to 90% at 20. Employees aged 18 to 20 with more than 6 months' service with their employer are due to move to the adult rate, introduced gradually and possibly from 1 December 2026.
• Illustration: at the level 1 rate, a casual adult working on a Sunday earns at least 150% of $27.81, or about $41.72 an hour.
• From 1 July 2026 employers must pay super at the same time as wages.
• In June 2024 the Federal Court imposed $1.44 million in penalties on 85 Degrees Coffee Australia Pty Ltd, the franchisor of the 85 Degrees brand, over underpayments at franchisee outlets in Sydney. It was the first time the Fair Work Ombudsman used the responsible franchisor provisions in court.

• Before any food handling begins, notify the regulator of your business details, the nature of the business and the location of your premises. In the states this is likely to be your local council; in the NT and ACT, the local health department.
• Standard 3.2.2A, in force since December 2023, applies to food service, catering and retail businesses that handle unpackaged, potentially hazardous food that is ready to eat.
• Category one businesses, which make ready-to-eat potentially hazardous food and serve it, need a certified food safety supervisor, trained food handlers and records or other evidence that key food safety controls are met.
• The food safety supervisor must hold recognised certification obtained in the past 5 years.
• Food handler training must cover safe food handling, food contamination, cleaning and sanitising, and personal hygiene, and be completed before staff handle high-risk food.
• Ask the franchisor which parts of its operations manual cover these duties, and who pays for supervisor certification and staff training.

The lease and future refits can cost more than the franchise fee over the term. The Franchising Code has specific rules about both.

• If the franchisor or an associate leases the site to you, it must give you the head lease or a summary of its commercial terms before you sign.
• Related agreements, such as a lease or security deed, must be given at least 14 days before signing if they are available.
• Disclosure documents created from 1 November 2025 must say whether the franchisor will require significant capital expenditure during the term, with as much detail as practicable on why, how much, when, and the expected benefits and risks.
• Before a new agreement, renewal or extension, the franchisor must discuss that expenditure with you, including how you are likely to recoup it in your area.
• During the term, the franchisor can require significant capital expenditure only if it was disclosed, is needed to comply with the law, you agree to it, or all or most franchisees incur it and a majority approve.
• For agreements from 1 November 2025, the agreement must give you a reasonable opportunity to make a return, within the term, on any investment the franchisor requires.
• Line up the lease term, the franchise term and the refit cycle, so you aren't asked to refit shortly before either one ends.

These figures give context, not a forecast for any one outlet. The quick-service food figures come from FranchiseScope's analysis of 205 franchisors' Register profiles, and the answers are self-reported.

• Setup costs: the median low estimate was $303,000 (174 profiles) and the median high estimate was $661,084 (173 profiles) (Register profiles captured 19 August 2026).
• System size: the median profile reported 5 franchisees (196 profiles), so many systems are small.
• Restraint and goodwill: 183 of 189 profiles (96.8%) include a restraint of trade, and 15 of 182 (8.2%) say franchisees have rights to goodwill they generate.
• Supply restrictions: 177 of 200 profiles (88.5%) restrict where franchisees buy goods or services.
• Business survival: of about 17,969 food and beverage services businesses that started in 2021–22, about 47.5% were still trading in June 2025 (ABS). The figure is approximate and covers all such businesses, not just franchises.
• ACCC review: in 2019 the ACCC checked 12 food franchisors and found about a third didn't consistently give useful contact details for former franchisees, and nearly half of prospective franchisees got no independent professional advice.
• No Australian dataset tracks franchise failure rates, so treat any claim of low failure with caution.

• Sales figures with no wage, rent and cost-of-goods percentages, or projections without their assumptions.
• A franchise term shorter than the time you need to recover your fit-out.
• A disclosure document that is vague about future refits, or a refit clause with no limit.
• Mandatory suppliers without clear disclosure of rebates paid to the franchisor or its associates.
• A franchisor that can't explain how it checks wage compliance across its network.
• Current franchisees who say the numbers only work because the owner works long unpaid hours.
• Several previous owners at the site you are offered, with no clear explanation of why each one left.

• Get the setup estimate line by line and ask current franchisees what they actually spent.
• Build a 12-month roster at 1 July 2026 award rates, including weekends, public holidays and late nights, and allow for the junior rate changes.
• Get the lease or head lease terms and compare the lease term with the franchise term and the refit cycle.
• Read the capital expenditure, supply and rebate, and earnings items in the disclosure document.
• Confirm your food business notification and Standard 3.2.2A duties with your council.
• Visit the site at breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night, and on weekends.
• Call former franchisees and ask why they left.
• Get independent legal and accounting advice before you sign.