Retail leasing consistency on agenda at franchise CEO roundtable

Greater consistency in retail leasing across Australia was among the priorities highlighted by Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh at the Franchise Council of Australia’s inaugural CEO Roundtable in Canberra on 20 October 2026. His address connected the conditions for franchise investment with a broader question: how governments can make it easier for successful businesses to expand.

Retail leasing differences under examination

Speaking at the National Convention Centre, Leigh said he and Small Business Minister Anne Aly had launched consultation on opportunities for greater consistency in retail leasing across Australia.

The work examines where differences create unnecessary costs or confusion, while preserving protections and useful flexibility. That distinction matters: the stated objective is to identify avoidable friction, rather than to remove every difference in leasing arrangements.

For the franchise community, the consultation puts premises-related rules within the discussion about business growth. A network considering expansion across state borders has reason to examine not only the commercial terms of individual sites, but also the requirements applying in each location.

Leigh described the initiative as consultation. His address did not announce an agreed national retail leasing framework or a commencement date for changes. Businesses assessing new locations should therefore distinguish the policy discussion from the rules that currently apply to a proposed lease.

Expansion through a productivity lens

Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, framed his address around both the franchise relationship and the spread of successful business ideas.

He said franchising supports more than half a million Australian jobs. For some employees, a franchise business provides their first experience of paid work; for some owners, buying into a network represents the largest financial commitment of their lives.

Those observations placed the roundtable’s expansion discussion in a practical context. Growth is not simply a question of adding locations. It also involves the conditions under which owners commit capital, employees enter work and established business methods reach new markets.

Leigh used the example of pioneering salon operator Martha Matilda Harper, who began franchising in 1891. The women running her salons owned their businesses while following the Harper Method, with training and inspections helping to maintain quality.

He presented that history as an illustration of an enduring challenge: giving owners a business of their own while maintaining standards across a network. Recruitment, he noted, can begin a relationship lasting years, giving both parties strong reasons to make the right decision.

Investment conditions remain central

Alongside the leasing consultation, Leigh outlined the investment protections in the remade Franchising Code of Conduct. The Code commenced on 1 April 2025, with further provisions applying from 1 November 2025.

For agreements covered by the new provisions, a central requirement is a reasonable opportunity for franchisees to make a return, during the agreement’s term, on investment required by the franchisor.

Leigh emphasised the distinction between that opportunity and a guarantee of profitability. Commercial risk remains. The requirement concerns whether the agreement provides a reasonable chance to recover the required investment and earn a return.

The Code also requires provision for compensation in specified early-termination circumstances, including certain changes to a franchisor’s Australian network or distribution model.

These points sit alongside the expansion agenda rather than replacing commercial assessment. A prospective owner still needs to understand the investment, the agreement’s duration and what the franchisor expects before committing savings.

What businesses should consider now

The Canberra address brought retail leasing consultation and franchise investment conditions into the same growth discussion, without presenting consultation as completed reform.

For franchisors planning additional locations, a useful next step is to identify specific leasing differences that create costs or confusion, rather than assuming that all local variation is an obstacle. For prospective franchisees, lease commitments and franchise agreement obligations warrant consideration together, with appropriate professional advice.

Practical takeaway: Assess expansion against today’s leasing rules and franchise obligations, while monitoring the consultation for changes that could affect future premises decisions.