Franchisor record keeping: the 6-year rules and the ACCC's 21-day document demand

• Each of the three duties is a civil penalty provision of up to 600 penalty units: $218,400 for conduct from 1 July 2026.
• Under the 2014 Code, the record-keeping clause (clause 19) carried no penalty, and its 6 years ran from when a document was created.
• The ACCC's power comes from s51ADD of the Competition and Consumer Act: a written notice to produce Code records within 21 days, which can be extended on written application (s51ADE).
• Since January 2015 the ACCC has run 54 franchising compliance checks using compulsory information notices (Schaper review, 2023).
• For specific purpose funds, the ACCC expects invoices, cost estimates and contracts showing that administration costs are reasonable.

1. Things you receive (s37(1)): if a franchisee or prospective franchisee gives you something in writing, as required or permitted by the Code, keep it or a copy for at least 6 years after you receive it.
2. Supporting documents (s37(2)): if you make a statement or claim in your disclosure document and rely on a document to support it, keep that document for at least 6 years after the disclosure document was most recently provided to a franchisee or prospective franchisee.
3. Things you give (s37(3)): if you give a franchisee or prospective franchisee a document, as required or permitted by the Code, keep it or a copy for at least 6 years after you give it.
4. Because the s37(2) clock runs from the last time the disclosure document was given, support for a claim you keep repeating must be kept for as long as you use it, plus 6 years.
5. Worked dates: supporting documents for a disclosure document last given to a prospect on 15 March 2026 must be kept until at least 15 March 2032. A signed advice statement received on 20 May 2026 must be kept until at least 20 May 2032.

• Clause 19 of the 2014 Code covered written things franchisees gave you and supporting documents, but not documents you gave them.
• Its 6 years ran from when a document was created. Section 37 runs from receipt, from giving, or from the last time the disclosure document was provided.
• Clause 19 had no civil penalty. The Schaper review noted the ACCC's argument that a penalty was needed to support its s51ADD audits, and each s37 duty now carries 600 penalty units.
• Agreements entered into before 1 April 2025 stay under the 2014 Code until they are renewed, extended or transferred (s98), so many networks run both regimes at once.
• Applying the s37 standard to every record avoids tracking two sets of rules.

Keep each for at least 6 years after you give it (s37(3)), and log the date, the recipient and the version.

• Information statements (s22).
• Disclosure documents, copies of the Code, franchise agreements in the form to be signed, changed agreements and any earnings information given before signing (s23 and s24).
• Head leases or lease summaries, lease incentive details and related agreements such as security and confidentiality deeds (s23(2)(b), s29 and s30).
• Specific purpose fund statements and auditors' reports (s31).
• Updated disclosure documents given on request (s33).
• Materially relevant facts notices (s34) and end-of-term notices (s36).
• Transfer decisions, conditions and revocations (s49), and responses to franchisees' exit proposals (s54).
• Breach and termination notices (s55 to s58), and dispute notices you send (s72).

Keep each for at least 6 years after you receive it (s37(1)).

• Signed statements that the prospect received, read and had a reasonable opportunity to understand the disclosure document and Code (s26).
• Independent legal, business and accounting advice statements, or statements that the prospect chose not to get advice (s27).
• Opt-out notices from repeat franchisees (s23(4), s24(4) and s50(7)).
• Written requests to repay money paid during the consideration period (s23(8)).
• Requests for an updated disclosure document (s32) and written requests for lease information (s29).
• Transfer requests and the information supplied with them (s48), and franchisees' written exit proposals (s54).
• Dispute notices (s72), notices disputing a termination (s58), and written consents to a variation (s62).

Keep each for at least 6 years after the disclosure document it supports was last provided (s37(2)).

• Declarations and search results behind the litigation and history answers in item 4.
• Franchisee records behind the item 6 counts and the former franchisee contact list.
• Supplier purchase data and rebate statements behind the item 10 percentages.
• Quotes and estimates behind significant capital expenditure figures (items 14(1A) and 14(1B)) and establishment cost ranges (item 14(3)).
• Fund statements and records behind item 15.
• The facts, data and assumptions behind any earnings information (item 20).
• Solvency statements, financial reports or audits behind item 21.

1. The power applies where a corporation must keep, generate or publish information or a document under an industry code, including the Franchising Code (s51ADD(1)).
2. The ACCC gives a written notice requiring the information or document within 21 days after the notice is given (s51ADD(2)).
3. The notice must name the corporation, specify the documents and the Code provisions that require them, and explain the extension, compliance and false information rules; one notice can cover many documents (s51ADD(3) and (4)).
4. Worked date: a notice given on 1 October 2026 must be complied with by 22 October 2026.
5. Need more time? Apply in writing before the period ends; a member of the Commission, or a delegate, can extend it by written notice (s51ADE).
6. Comply within the 21 days or the extended period (s51ADF).
7. Don't give false or misleading information or documents (s51ADG). A document you know contains an error can be produced with a statement saying so.

• Fund statements must detail all receipts and expenses, with meaningful information about sources of income and spending, and the percentage split between the fund's purpose and administration and audit (s31(3)).
• The ACCC's 2025 guide says to keep invoices, cost estimates and contracts showing administration charges are reasonable and proportionate.
• Keep statements for the fund's separate bank account (s61(3)) and the workings for company-owned units' contributions (s61(2)).
• Record audit waiver votes: who paid into the fund, who voted and when, within 3 months of year end (s31(4)).
• Keep notes of each s47 capital expenditure discussion, including how the franchisee is likely to recoup the spend in their area.
• Keep the evidence behind any significant capital expenditure you require under s60, such as a majority approval or the franchisee's agreement.

• One retention register lists each document type, its Code section, the date the clock starts and the earliest destruction date.
• Every disclosure document version is archived, with a log of who received it and when.
• Supporting documents are filed by disclosure document item and kept while in use, plus 6 years.
• Signed statements and opt-out notices sit in each franchisee's file.
• Records survive staff departures and system changes, including email archives.
• Records held by your lawyers or accountants can be retrieved within days.
• A named person owns responses to ACCC notices.