Buying a Franchise in Australia: Record Sales Promises

A franchise sales conversation can sound more flexible than the agreement you eventually receive. An assurance about an opening date, an extra service or permission to offer a particular product might influence your decision to buy. Before joining Australia’s franchising community, turn those assurances into a clear record, check who can authorise them and establish whether they will become enforceable commitments.

1. Create a record of promises that matter

Start a simple promises register from your first substantive conversation with the franchisor or its representative. This is not a list of everything said during a presentation. Focus on statements that affect whether you would proceed, what you would pay or how you expect to operate.

Examples include an assurance that you can launch by a particular date, that a specific service is included in the purchase price or that you have permission to depart from a standard requirement.

For each material statement, record:

• The exact wording, as closely as possible.
• Who made it, their role and the date.
• Whether it appeared in an email, presentation, advertisement or conversation.
• Any conditions or qualifications attached to it.
• Why it matters to your purchase decision.

Save dated copies of relevant brochures and emails. Online presentations and website content can change, so retain the version you actually considered rather than relying on finding it again later.

After a call, send a neutral confirmation: “My understanding is that the quoted purchase price includes this service, subject to these conditions. Please confirm or correct this.” Silence is not confirmation. Seek an explicit answer.

2. Understand the legal protection—and its limits

Australia specifically regulates franchising through the mandatory Franchising Code of Conduct, enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The current Code commenced on 1 April 2025, with some additional rules applying from 1 November 2025.

The Code requires disclosure and good faith in dealings, including dealings with prospective franchisees. Franchisors must provide prescribed information and documents before a buyer commits. Those requirements do not remove the need to investigate a particular sales assurance.

The Australian Consumer Law also prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct, including in business-to-business dealings. A misleading statement does not become harmless simply because it was made during a sales conversation rather than written into the franchise agreement.

However, not every optimistic comment is a contractual promise, and a disappointing outcome does not automatically establish unlawful conduct. The words used, their context, any qualifications and the surrounding evidence can all matter.

Ask your lawyer to distinguish between a representation about the opportunity, an estimate subject to uncertainty and an obligation the franchisor is agreeing to perform. Your aim before buying is clarity—not a future argument about what someone meant.

3. Reconcile assurances with the proposed agreement

Give your promises register to your franchise lawyer alongside the proposed agreement and disclosure document. Ask them to identify statements that are missing, contradicted or subject to broader discretion in the paperwork.

For example, a salesperson might say that a particular service is included. The agreement might instead say it is available only at the franchisor’s discretion or attracts an additional charge. Those are materially different arrangements.

Resolve each important mismatch before signing. Depending on the issue, your lawyer may recommend an amendment, a properly drafted schedule or another binding document. A reassuring email is useful evidence, but it is not necessarily an adequate substitute for a clear contractual obligation.

Also establish who has authority to approve the commitment. A broker, salesperson or regional representative may not have authority to vary the franchisor’s standard terms.

Pay particular attention to clauses stating that the written agreement contains the entire arrangement, and declarations that you have not relied on statements outside it. These do not automatically eliminate statutory rights, but they can complicate later arguments about what was promised and relied upon. Do not sign an acknowledgement you believe is inaccurate; ask your lawyer how to address it.

4. Make unresolved promises a decision point

Before committing, mark each material assurance as confirmed in the contractual documents, clarified as non-binding, withdrawn or unresolved. Keep the final written response with your purchase records.

If the franchisor declines to make an assurance binding, assess the purchase without that benefit. Would you still buy on the terms actually offered? If not, pause rather than assume the relationship will resolve the gap later.

A request for precision need not be confrontational. Clear expectations help both parties begin their relationship with fewer avoidable misunderstandings.

Practical takeaway: Record the promises that influence your decision, obtain explicit clarification and have important commitments properly documented before you sign. Buy on the terms you can verify, not the assurances you hope will be honoured.