The Franchising Code provides that a disclosure document must be in one of two specific formats depending on the expected annual turnover of the franchise. These are:

•  long form (if the franchised business is expected to have an annual turnover of $50 000 or more at any time during the franchise agreement)
• short form (if the franchised business is expected to have an annual turnover of less than $50 000).

The formats for each type of disclosure document can be found in the ACCC’s Franchising Code of Conduct compliance manual.

Where a short form disclosure document has been provided, the franchisor is required to provide certain additional information upon request.

Information that must be in a long-form disclosure document includes:

•  details of the franchisor’s business experience and litigation history
•  payments to be made by the franchisee to the franchisor
•  details of existing and past franchisees
•  details of the supply of goods and services
•  details of marketing or other cooperative funds
•  details of the franchise site or territory and
•  copies of any leases, sub-leases or certain other documents relating to the franchise, if available.

A disclosure document may also contain other information that the franchisor wants to give, in a section of the document marked 'Other relevant disclosure information'.