The franchise information statement: meeting the 7-day deadline

• The statement is the ACCC's own document, published on its website. The current edition is dated April 2025.
• You must give a copy of that statement, not your own summary of it.
• A person seeking to buy a franchised business by transfer is a prospective franchisee (s6), so resale buyers must get it too.
• An existing franchisee taking on another unit under a new agreement gets it as well. The Code's opt-outs for repeat franchisees don't cover the information statement.
• You can give it electronically, and you must keep a copy of what you gave for at least 6 years (s37(3)).
• The maximum penalty is $218,400 per contravention from 1 July 2026, and the ACCC can issue infringement notices instead.

The clock starts when a prospective franchisee formally applies, or expresses an interest in acquiring the franchised business. The Code doesn't define either phrase, so set a rule your team applies the same way every time.

• Treat these as starting the clock: a completed application form, a signed expression of interest, a written request to be considered for a site or territory, or a request for the disclosure document.
• Probably not enough on its own: a general enquiry, such as asking for a brochure or a price range. When in doubt, send the statement; nothing in the Code stops you giving it early.
• Resale buyers: someone who wants to buy an existing franchise from a franchisee is a prospective franchisee (s6). They often deal with the seller or a broker first, so ask sellers and brokers to tell you as soon as a buyer is serious.
• Second and later units: a new agreement for another unit isn't a renewal or extension, so the statement is required again.
• Renewals and extensions: s22 doesn't apply to them (s22(2)).
• Seven days is the outer limit: the Code says 'as soon as practicable', so don't wait for day 7 if you could send it on day 1.

1. Log every enquiry with the date, time, channel and contact details in your CRM or recruitment system.
2. Classify it the same day as either a general enquiry or a formal application or expression of interest.
3. For applications and expressions of interest, send the ACCC's statement the same or next business day, attached as a file rather than only as a link, so there's no doubt about what was given.
4. Before each recruitment campaign, check you're sending the current edition from the ACCC's website.
5. Record the evidence: the sent email with its attachment, the timestamp and the recipient's address, or a signed and dated acknowledgement for hand delivery.
6. Set a reminder for day 5 so nothing reaches day 7 unsent.
7. Block the next step: your process shouldn't let the disclosure document, the agreement, lease documents or the Code go out until the statement has been given (s22(1)(b)).
8. File the record so it can be kept for at least 6 years (s37(3)).

The April 2025 edition is short and written for first-time buyers. In summary, it covers:

• Before you sign: learn about franchising, including the ACCC's free online courses; research the system and talk to current and former franchisees; get independent legal, accounting and business advice; and compare options on the Franchise Disclosure Register.
• Understanding franchising: the benefits some systems offer, such as an established product and reputation, pooled advertising and purchasing power, and the limits on changing a business the franchisor controls closely.
• Risks: high site turnover ('churning'), systems expanding too fast ('burning'), significant capital expenditure a franchisor can impose in certain conditions, and 'no agent' and 'entire agreement' clauses. It warns that franchisors generally don't have to pay for goodwill when the agreement ends.
• Questions to ask: the franchisor's experience and reputation, including support with workplace laws; start-up costs, working capital and time to break even; ongoing fees, approved suppliers, rebates and specific purpose funds; earnings, territory and online competition; and what can change without your approval.
• The end of the agreement: renewal, selling, goodwill and restraints, and what happens if the franchisor becomes insolvent, including that money paid into a specific purpose fund may not come back.
• Changing your mind: the 14-day consideration period, refunds of payments made in it on written request, and cooling-off.
• After signing: your rights, the franchisor's internal complaints procedure, mediation or conciliation if a dispute isn't settled within 3 weeks, the ombudsman's dispute service, and the ACCC's role.

• Sending your own brochure or summary instead of the ACCC's statement.
• Sending an outdated edition.
• Putting it in the same email as the disclosure document. It must come before the s23(2) documents, so send it separately and earlier.
• Missing resale buyers because the seller or a broker handled the first contact.
• Skipping existing franchisees who are buying another unit.
• Relying on a broker or recruitment agent without a process. The obligation sits with the franchisor.
• Keeping no evidence of when it was sent, or not keeping it for 6 years.

• The enquiry log entry showing when the application or expression of interest arrived.
• A note of how you classified it, if that wasn't obvious.
• The sent email, with the attachment and the edition date of the statement.
• Any acknowledgement from the prospective franchisee, if you ask for one.
• The date you later gave the disclosure document, showing it came after the statement.
• Retention for at least 6 years (s37(3)). The ACCC can require a franchisor to produce records the Code requires it to keep within 21 days.
• The stakes: up to 600 penalty units per contravention, or an infringement notice of 60 penalty units ($21,840) for a company.

• Read it before the disclosure document, and use its questions as your due diligence list.
• Note the date you received it. If a franchisor sends the disclosure document or agreement first, ask why.
• Look the franchisor up on the Franchise Disclosure Register and compare it with others.
• Consider the ACCC's free pre-entry education course, especially if you haven't run a business before.
• Line up an independent lawyer, accountant and business adviser before the 14-day consideration period starts.
• Know your rights: the franchisor can't sign until 14 days after you receive the documents, payments made in that period must be refunded on written request, and a new agreement usually comes with a 14-day cooling-off period.

• A written rule defines what counts as a formal application or expression of interest.
• The current ACCC edition is saved in your templates and checked before each campaign.
• Every application triggers the statement within a business day, well inside 7 days.
• Resale and multi-unit buyers are captured.
• Disclosure documents can't be sent until the statement has gone.
• Evidence is filed and kept for at least 6 years.