Information for franchisors and professional advisers

Information for franchisors and professional advisers

What’s new or changed with the Franchise Disclosure Register?

The new Franchising Code of Conduct commenced on 1 April 2025 and can be found on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Franchisors will no longer be able to upload a Key Facts Sheet or a Disclosure Document to the Franchise Disclosure Register.

Franchisors who have previously uploaded a Key Facts Sheet or Disclosure Document do not need to remove those documents from the Register. Those documents are no longer viewable to the public. Under the new Code a franchisor will also be expected to include additional information on its Register profile from 1 April 2025 on:

  • whether a franchisor, a director of the franchisor, an associate of the franchisor or a director of an associate of the franchisor has been convicted of a serious offence, been subject to a final judgment in civil proceedings regarding certain matters, or been bankrupt or insolvent, within a certain time period.
  • whether a franchise agreement provides for arbitration of disputes.

This additional information is contained in your Disclosure Document.

You can visit the ACCC website for more information and guidance about the new Franchising Code.

It is important that franchising participants ensure they have a thorough understanding of their obligations. If you are unsure, please seek professional advice.

Annual obligation - Do you need to confirm or update your existing franchise profile published on the Register

To meet your annual obligation under the Franchising Code of Conduct, you must confirm or update your existing franchise profile by the fourteenth (14th) day of the fifth (5th) month from the end of your last financial year. For example, if you operate your franchise business using the Australian financial year (1 July to 30 June), you must confirm or update your existing profile by 14 November 2025.

Log into the Register portal using your Digital ID and select the Confirm or update existing franchise profile tile. There is guidance in the Register portal to help.

Remember to check any documents you want to upload before you publish them with your franchise profile, as you must redact or remove all personal and/or sensitive information.

Check if Your contact details are up to date, we will use these details if we need to contact you. Your details will not display on the public Register.

Annual obligation - Update or confirm details in a franchise profile

You can Confirm or Update your franchise profile. When the confirmed or updated version is published, it will display on the Register. The superseded version will be removed from the Register but can be viewed by selecting the Superseded Profiles option.

It is recommended to download and save a copy of the franchise profile before making any updates. To do this, select Download Profile and save a copy.

Franchisors must be on the Register

The Franchising Code of Conduct requires certain franchisors to create a franchise profile on the Register.

If you are required to be on the Register you also need to confirm or update your franchise profile each year to meet your annual obligation under the Franchising Code. You must do this before the fourteenth (14th) day of the fifth (5th) month following the end of your financial year. This is to make sure the Register includes the most recent and accurate information.

Once your franchise profile is published on the Register, your information can be viewed by prospective franchisees and public users.

Full and complete Disclosure Documents must still be provided directly to prospective franchisees as required under the Franchise code.

If you are unsure about your obligations under the Franchising Code, you should seek professional advice.

Exemptions

Master franchisors are exempt from having a profile on the Register if they only have one Australian subfranchisor, and no intention to grant further franchises.

For franchisors exempted from updating disclosure documents under Clause 8(7) of the Franchising Code of Conduct, they must still maintain a presence on, and update their Register profile each year.

Use Digital ID to log in to the Register

You must have a Digital ID to be able to log in to the Register. Digital ID is a secure, convenient and voluntary way to verify and reuse your ID online.

Find out more about Digital ID at www.digitalidsystem.gov.au.

You also need to link your Digital ID to your ABN in Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM). How to do this depends on your role. Find out more at info.authorisationmanager.gov.au/get-started.

When following the process for authorising others, ensure the:

  • Representative type is Standard user
  • Agency access is Full for Treasury.

Find out more about authorising others at info.authorisationmanager.gov.au/set-up-authorisations.

Franchisors can authorise a representative to access the Register

Representatives (such as lawyers) can access the Register on behalf of the franchisor.

Representatives will need to be authorised to act on behalf of the franchisor's ABN for interactions with the Department of the Treasury. Representatives will also need their own Digital ID.

When assigning permissions to representatives, make sure to select The Treasury (full access) under agency access.

Find out how to set up authorisations at info.authorisationmanager.gov.au/set-up-authorisations.

Find out how to accept an authorisation at info.authorisationmanager.gov.au/authorised-users-and-administrators.

Franchisors without an ABN

The Register authenticates franchisors using their Digital ID which is linked to their Australian Business Number (ABN) via Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM).

Franchisors that are unable to obtain an ABN (e.g. foreign franchisors), can email info@franchisedisclosure.gov.au for options to create a new, confirm or update an existing franchise profile on the Register.

Franchisor Dashboard

You can access your Franchisor Dashboard after logging in to the Register using your Digital ID. From the Franchisor Dashboard, you can select:

Your contact details

    Record and update your contact details. The fields marked with an (*) are mandatory and the other is optional to complete. This information is not available to the public and is used if we need to contact you.

Confirm or update existing franchise profile

    Select this tile to confirm, update and manage an existing franchise profile to meet your annual obligations. You can also preview, download, unpublish and delete current franchise profiles from here, and download superseded profiles.

Create a new franchise profile

    Select this tile when you are creating a new franchise profile for the first time or to add a profile for an additional franchise business operating under the same ABN.

Completing a franchise profile

When completing a franchise profile there are mandatory and optional fields.

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory and you must complete these fields – there is information next to each field that will help you.

Business Details

    All fields are mandatory for you to complete in this section, with the exception of the ABN – this field will auto-populate.

Disclosure Information

    Complete the fields for last month and year in which the last financial year ends.

    Your answer for the field Is the franchisor required to update their Disclosure Document for the last financial year will determine if the following fields are mandatory or optional to complete.

    If you answer Yes, the remaining Disclosure Information fields are mandatory.

    If you answer No, the remaining Disclosure Information fields are optional for you to complete.

Public contact details

    The Franchisor email and Franchisor phone number fields are mandatory, and the Franchisor website is optional.

Completing a franchise profile - Uploading documents

It is optional to upload your:

  • Standard Agreement
  • Logo

    • You can choose not to upload either of these documents.

    If you choose to upload your document(s), ensure you have removed or redacted personal and sensitive information that relate to an individual (for example, signatures, personal email addresses and phone numbers) other than the franchisor, a franchisee or a site occupied by a franchisee. Your document may be removed from the Register if it is published with personal and/or sensitive information.

    Under the previous Franchising Code of Conduct you had the option to upload your Disclosure Document or Key Facts Sheet, but this is not an option under the current Code. If you have previously uploaded these documents you do not need to remove them from your profile as they are no longer displayed publicly in the Register. You can still access them for reference from your Franchisor Dashboard after logging in to the Register.

    Franchisors operating on a non-Australian financial year

    If you operate your franchise business outside of the Australian financial year, you still must confirm or update your existing franchise profile published on the Register to meet your annual obligations. Your franchise profile is due by the fourteenth (14th) day of the fifth (5th) month from the end of your financial year.

    Multiple franchise systems

    You can manage multiple franchise profiles from the Franchise Dashboard if each franchise business operates under the same business identifier, for example, an Australian Business Number (ABN).

    If you have multiple franchise businesses (brands) operating under different business identifiers (ABN’s) you will need to select the franchise business you are acting on behalf of when logging into the Register portal via Digital ID and Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM).

    Privacy

    The Treasury administers the Franchise Disclosure Register and is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Learn more about the Privacy Policy for franchisors.