The Franchise Disclosure Register's integrity questions: convictions, judgments and insolvency

• The questions come from the Register's extra-information rules: s7(2)(aa) of the Additional Information Determination 2022, as amended from 1 April 2025 and applied through s92(4) of the Code.
• The rules give no time limit for the insolvency question, while the disclosure document's version asks about the last 10 years (item 4(2)(c)).
• A franchisor is exempt from the extra information for a disclosure document if it has entered into fewer than 2 franchise agreements and doesn't intend to enter into a franchise agreement (Determination s6(2)).
• FranchiseScope's analysis of Register profiles captured on 19 August 2026 found 3 of 926 answering flagged a serious offence, 10 of 927 a civil judgment and 20 of 927 insolvency. The answers are self-reported.
• Missing or wrong Register information can breach s92 or s93, each carrying up to 600 penalty units: $218,400 for conduct from 1 July 2026.

Each question reaches four groups of people, and the associate category is wider than many franchisors expect.

• The franchisor itself.
• Each director of the franchisor.
• Each associate of the franchisor: a director, related company, director of a related company or partner, or, for a proprietary company, anyone holding at least 15% of the voting shares, whose relationship is relevant to the franchise system (s6).
• A relationship is relevant if, for example, the associate supplies franchisees, gives them a right to occupy premises, owns intellectual property the system uses, or is involved in market research, sales promotion or management of the system.
• Each director of an associate.
• Overseas matters count: the conviction question includes equivalent offences outside Australia, and the insolvency question covers events in Australia or elsewhere.

1. Serious offence: convicted in the last 10 years of a serious offence, or an equivalent offence outside Australia (Determination s7(2)(aa)(i); item 4(2)(a)).
2. Civil judgment: subject in the last 5 years to a final judgment in civil proceedings for a matter listed in item 4(1) (s7(2)(aa)(ii); item 4(2)(b)).
3. Insolvency: bankrupt, insolvent under administration or a Chapter 5 body corporate, in Australia or elsewhere (s7(2)(aa)(iii)). The rules state no time limit; the disclosure document asks about the last 10 years (item 4(2)(c)).
4. Arbitration: added at the same time, though not an integrity question, the Register also asks whether your agreement provides for arbitration of disputes consistent with the Code (s7(2)(ia)).

• Serious offence (s6): an offence under a Commonwealth, state or territory law that would carry at least 5 years' imprisonment on first conviction if committed in the Jervis Bay Territory, or any contravention of the Corporations Act.
• Listed judgments (item 4(1)): matters alleging breach of a franchise agreement, a contravention of the Competition and Consumer Act or the Corporations Act, unconscionable conduct, misconduct or an offence of dishonesty, plus certain workplace-law matters other than unfair dismissal.
• The ACCC's guidance says misconduct takes its Corporations Act meaning, which includes fraud, negligence, default, breach of trust and breach of duty.
• Insolvent under administration: the ACCC's guidance says this includes an undischarged bankrupt and a person who has executed a personal insolvency agreement under Part X of the Bankruptcy Act 1966.
• Chapter 5 body corporate: broadly, a company being wound up, with a receiver or receiver and manager acting, under administration or restructuring, or under a deed of company arrangement, restructuring plan, compromise or arrangement that hasn't ended.
• Spent convictions: the Code notes it doesn't affect the Commonwealth spent convictions scheme in Part VIIC of the Crimes Act 1914, which in some circumstances relieves people from disclosing spent convictions. Get advice before relying on it.

1. List everyone covered: the franchisor, its directors, each associate and each associate's directors. Update the list whenever directors or the group structure change.
2. Get a signed declaration from each person covering the three questions, with details of any matter.
3. Search company, court and personal insolvency records, or have your lawyer do it, rather than relying on memory.
4. Reconcile the results with item 4 of your disclosure document: current proceedings (item 4(1)), the history questions (item 4(2)) and the details item 4(3) requires, such as the parties, court, case number, status and penalty.
5. Answer the Register questions consistently with item 4, using the ACCC's approved form.
6. Keep the declarations and search results. They support statements in your disclosure document, so keep them for at least 6 years after the document was last given to anyone (s37(2)).
7. Recheck before each annual Register confirmation, due on or before the 14th day of the fifth month after your financial year ends (s93).
8. If a new judgment or an external administration arises mid-year, check whether s34 requires written notice to franchisees and prospects within 14 days.

• Item 4 of the disclosure document asks the same history questions and needs full details, not just yes or no (item 4(3)).
• Section 34 requires written notice within 14 days of becoming aware of new public agency proceedings, judgments or arbitration awards on listed matters against the franchisor, its directors, associates or their directors, or of the franchisor or an associate entering external administration, unless the disclosure document already mentions it.
• Breaches of s34 sit in the Code's higher penalty tier: for a company, the greatest of $10 million, 3 times the benefit or 10% of turnover.
• Register answers must be confirmed or updated at least once a year (s93), so a changed answer must be corrected by your next deadline: 14 November for a 30 June year end, or 14 May for 31 December.
• Director histories have been enforced before: in a case listed in the ACCC's 2023 review submission, the Federal Court ordered a franchisor to pay $100,000 in penalties because its disclosure document didn't disclose a former director's previous directorship of insolvent franchisors, and the former director to pay $50,000.

FranchiseScope analysed the Franchise Disclosure Register profiles captured on 19 August 2026. The answers are self-reported by franchisors.

• Serious offence in the last 10 years: 3 of 926 profiles answering said yes, about 0.3%.
• Final civil judgment on listed matters in the last 5 years: 10 of 927, about 1.1%.
• Bankruptcy or insolvency: 20 of 927, about 2.2%.
• Not every profile answered: 926 or 927 of the 1,187 captured did, depending on the question.
• Most profiles answer no to all three, so a yes stands out. It deserves questions, not an automatic walk-away.

1. Find the matching entry in item 4 of the disclosure document: parties, court or tribunal, case number, nature, status and any penalty or damages.
2. Work out who it concerns: the franchisor you would contract with, a director, or an associate such as a supplier or property company.
3. Check the dates, and whether the matter is finished or ongoing.
4. For insolvency, ask what happened to franchisees at the time, and read the item 21 solvency statement for the current position.
5. Ask your lawyer to search court and insolvency records for the franchisor and its directors.
6. Treat a no with care too. The answers are self-reported, and when Treasury ran the Register its terms of use said the government didn't endorse or check franchisor information (Schaper review, 2023).
7. Remember what the questions don't cover, such as current proceedings, which appear in item 4(1) of the disclosure document rather than on the Register.

• Your people list covers the franchisor, its directors, its associates and their directors.
• Signed declarations and search results are on file for each person.
• Register answers match item 4 of the current disclosure document.
• The insolvency answer has been checked with your lawyer, given the rules state no look-back period.
• New matters are assessed for a s34 notice within 14 days.
• Answers are rechecked before every annual Register confirmation.