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🔱 Senate3 readingsAmendments circulated

Franchising Laws Amendment (Fairness in Franchising) 2020

✦ Plain-English Summary

# Franchising Laws Amendment (Fairness in Franchising) 2020

## What it does
This bill updates the rules that govern franchise agreements in Australia—the deals between large companies and small business owners who run local franchises. It adds arbitration as an option alongside mediation when disputes arise, allows multiple franchisees with the same complaint to band together, and increases the penalties for franchise operators who break the rules.

## Why it matters
Small business owners running franchises often have less bargaining power than the big companies backing them. Stronger dispute resolution options and tougher penalties make it harder for major franchisors to ignore complaints or treat franchisees unfairly.

## Key details
- **Dispute resolution**: Franchisees can now use arbitration (a faster, binding decision) instead of just mediation (negotiation-based)
- **Group complaints**: If multiple franchisees have the same problem with a franchisor, they can now formally ask to resolve it together rather than separately
- **Timing**: The changes take effect the day after the bill receives Royal Assent (parliament's final approval)

Official Description

Amends the: Competition and Consumer (Industry Codes—Franchising) Regulation 2014 to: enable the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman to appoint a mediation and franchising adviser to assist in resolving franchising disputes where mediation has failed, or where both parties agree to arbitration; and give the ombudsman the power to assist with multi-party mediation and arbitration in franchising disputes where multiple parties have identical issues that require resolution; Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to increase the civil penalties provisions for breaching the Franchising Code of Conduct; and Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Act 2015 to make consequential amendments.

Full bill PDF →APH page →

Audit History

Introduced

2 Sept 2020

Last updated on APH

10 Apr 2026

Last checked by Crossbench

yesterday

Full text indexed

yesterday

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