The Schaper review of the Franchising Code: what it found and what changed

• Terms of reference were issued on 15 August 2023, with the previous Code due to sunset on 1 April 2025.
• Evidence: 95 submissions, more than 40 meetings and roundtables, a franchisee survey (381 responses), a Register survey (163 responses) and a custom ABS analysis of the sector.
• Output: 25 findings, 23 recommendations and 34 implementation suggestions.
• Government response, 7 May 2024: 'Agree' to 21 recommendations and 'Agree in principle' to 2, a FranchiseSmart website and 'no adverse costs' orders.
• Result: the Competition and Consumer (Industry Codes, Franchising) Regulations 2024, in force from 1 April 2025, with some rules starting on 1 November 2025.

• The Code is generally fit for purpose and its benefits still outweigh its regulatory costs, so it should be remade rather than allowed to lapse.
• The sector has not kept pace with growth in the broader business population, and statistics on the sector, and ways to measure its success, need to be improved.
• There is significant misunderstanding, especially among franchisees, about what the Code is meant to achieve.
• Disclosure is comprehensive but can be burdensome for franchisors and hard for franchisees to act on, and mandating more of it would likely be counterproductive.
• The Franchise Disclosure Register is valuable, but awareness and use of it are low.
• Changes made in 2021 made it 'unacceptably difficult' for franchisors to act decisively on serious breaches.
• Misunderstanding of goodwill remains a source of complaints at the end of agreements, and unreasonable restraints of trade are unduly limiting franchisees' opportunities.
• The merits of a shift to an up-front licensing regime should be examined before the next review.

Each entry gives the recommendation, the Government's May 2024 response and what has happened since, where the public record shows it.

• Recommendation 1, better statistics on the sector. Agreed, with ASBFEO asked to lead on improving and publishing existing data sets. As at September 2026 we found no new official count of franchise systems or franchisees since the 2023 ABS analysis.
• Recommendation 2, remake the Code largely in its current format. Agreed. Done: the new Code was registered on 9 December 2024 and took effect on 1 April 2025.
• Recommendation 3, a clear statement of purpose. Agreed. Done: section 15 says the Code regulates conduct to address the imbalance of power, improves standards to minimise disputes and provides fair dispute resolution.
• Recommendation 4, capture car dealers' service and repair work. Agreed. Done: the definition of a motor vehicle dealership now covers servicing and repair.
• Recommendation 5, review the Code every five years. Agreed. Done: the next review must start before 1 April 2030 (section 12).
• Recommendation 6, simplify pre-entry information by merging the old Code's Key Facts Sheet into the disclosure document. Agreed, and done differently: the Key Facts Sheet was abolished from 1 April 2025.
• Recommendation 7, simplify obligations to existing franchisees. Agreed. Done: a franchisee who has, or recently had, a substantially similar agreement can opt out of disclosure and the 14-day cooling-off period.
• Recommendation 8, a reasonable opportunity to make a return on investment in every franchise agreement. Agreed. Done: section 44 applies to agreements entered into, renewed, extended or transferred from 1 November 2025.

• Recommendation 9, compensation for early termination in every agreement. Agreed. Done: section 43, for agreements from 1 November 2025, requires compensation if the franchisor ends the agreement early because it leaves Australia, cuts back its network or changes how it distributes.
• Recommendation 10, raise the Register's visibility and use. Agreed, using existing channels. The ACCC took over running the Register on 21 October 2025, as the review suggested.
• Recommendation 11, add dispute and enforcement information to the Register. Agreed and largely done: since 1 April 2025 profiles must say whether the agreement provides for arbitration, and whether the franchisor, its associates or their directors have serious offence convictions, civil judgments on listed matters or a history of insolvency.
• Recommendation 12, educate franchisors to consult franchisees on major changes. Agreed, with ASBFEO leading best practice guidance. ASBFEO reports publishing best-practice guidance for the franchise sector in the December quarter of 2025.
• Recommendation 13, simplify termination for serious breaches. Agreed. Done: section 57 lets a franchisor terminate on 7 days' notice for certain serious grounds, such as insolvency or losing a licence the business needs, and the franchisee can't take it to the Code's dispute process, although court action remains open.
• Recommendation 14, guidance on franchisee-initiated exits. Agreed, again with ASBFEO leading. The rule itself is now section 54: a franchisor must reply in writing within 28 days to a franchisee's exit proposal, with reasons if it says no.
• Recommendation 15, limit unreasonable restraints of trade. Agreed and partly done: sections 42 and 67 ban restraints that would apply when a franchisor refuses a valid renewal request and offers no more than nominal goodwill compensation, with a civil penalty of up to 600 penalty units.

• Recommendation 16, a 'FranchiseSmart' government website. Agreed in principle only: the Government said it would revisit an online resource once it decides on licensing.
• Recommendation 17, best practice guidance and education, including on unfair contract terms. Agreed, with ASBFEO leading (see recommendation 12).
• Recommendation 18, power for ASBFEO to name franchisors that don't take part in dispute resolution. Agreed. Done: ASBFEO can publicise franchisors that refuse to take part in, or withdraw from, alternative dispute resolution, for conduct from 1 April 2025.
• Recommendation 19, low-cost legal advice before formal dispute resolution. Agreed. ASBFEO launched a low-cost legal advice pilot in March 2025, with a $100 co-payment for eligible small businesses and the rest subsidised. The pilot was due to end in August 2026, with work under way on a full roll-out.
• Recommendation 20, a role for franchisees in the ACCC's designated complaints function. Agreed: the Government said small business representatives would be able to apply to become designated complainants. We haven't confirmed whether a franchise body has been designated.
• Recommendation 21, 'no adverse costs' orders for franchisees who sue. Agreed in principle only: the Government noted such orders are uncommon in Commonwealth law and said it would consult further. We found no change.
• Recommendation 22, more penalty provisions and bigger infringement notices. Agreed. Done: every substantive obligation in the new Code carries a civil penalty of up to 600 penalty units ($218,400 from 1 July 2026), and an ACCC infringement notice to a company is now 60 penalty units ($21,840).
• Recommendation 23, investigate a licensing regime. Agreed: a Treasury taskforce consulted from 11 November to 8 December 2024 on five possible elements, from regulatory oversight to business model preconditions. As at September 2026, no outcome has been published.

The review's franchisee survey ran from 4 to 20 October 2023. Respondents chose to take part, and 173 of the 381 were motor vehicle dealers, so read the scores as indicative.

• Knowledge of the Code averaged 6.3 out of 10.
• Effectiveness of the Code averaged 4.2 out of 10, with 40.4% scoring it 1 to 3.
• The working relationship with their franchisor averaged 5.7 out of 10, with about 26% scoring it 1 to 3.
• Effectiveness of the ACCC scored 3.9 out of 10 in the survey appendix (4.0 in the report's summary table).
• 126 of 381 reported a serious dispute with their franchisor in the previous 12 months, and only 12 of them said they resolved it effectively.
• On disclosure, 38% said they received too much information, 29% the right amount, 18% too little and 15% the wrong information.

1. 15 August 2023: the Minister for Small Business issues the terms of reference.
2. 4 to 20 October 2023: the franchisee survey runs.
3. 11 December 2023: Dr Schaper sends his report to the Minister.
4. 8 February 2024: the report is released.
5. 7 May 2024: the Government agrees, or agrees in principle, to all 23 recommendations.
6. 9 to 29 October 2024: Treasury consults on the draft new Code and receives 28 submissions.
7. 11 November to 8 December 2024: the licensing taskforce consults.
8. 9 December 2024: the new Code is registered and announced.
9. 1 April 2025: the new Code takes effect for new, renewed, extended and transferred agreements.
10. 21 October and 1 November 2025: the ACCC takes over the Register, and the early-termination, return-on-investment, specific purpose fund and capital expenditure disclosure rules start.

• Buyers: check which Code covers the agreement. Agreements signed before 1 April 2025 stay under the 2014 Code until they are renewed, extended or transferred.
• Buyers: look up the franchisor's Register profile, now run by the ACCC, for its answers on arbitration, convictions, judgments and insolvency.
• Buyers: for agreements from 1 November 2025, read the clauses on early-termination compensation and on a reasonable opportunity to recoup your investment.
• Franchisees: if a dispute arises, ASBFEO can appoint a mediator, and a franchisor that refuses to take part can be publicly named.
• Franchisors: confirm your agreements, disclosure document and specific purpose fund processes reflect the 1 November 2025 rules.
• Everyone: watch for the licensing outcome and for the next review, which must start before 1 April 2030.