Franchise Dispute Lawyers in Melbourne

Your dispute already has a rulebook

If you are in a dispute with your franchisor, it runs on the Franchising Code of Conduct rather than on their terms or yours. The Code builds a fixed pathway into every franchise relationship: a written notice of dispute, 21 days to resolve it directly, then mediation or conciliation through the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.

Your franchisor has walked that pathway many times, and you probably have not. That gap is where franchisees lose money, and getting advice early is what closes it. Call MK Law on 1800 130 120 before you send or answer anything in writing. The first call is free.

The disputes we run for franchisees

Most of the franchise disputes on our desk fall into a handful of patterns. The disclosure document overstated revenue or buried the litigation history. The marketing fund has been spent on things that never helped your store. The franchisor opened a new outlet inside your territory, or started selling online into it. A renewal is being refused unless you sign worse terms. Or a breach notice has arrived and termination is on the table.

Behind almost all of them sits a site, and in many systems the franchisor holds the head lease while you occupy under a licence. That makes your franchise fight and any retail lease disputes over the premises one problem rather than two, because losing the site ends the argument about the franchise.

Each pattern has its own legal footing. Misleading disclosure runs under the Australian Consumer Law and the Code. Fee and fund disputes run on the contract. Territory fights usually blend both. A franchise agreement is also a standard form contract handed to a small business on a take-it-or-leave-it basis, which puts the unfair contract terms regime in play alongside the Code. The label matters less than the evidence, so bring us the agreement, the disclosure document and the correspondence, and we will tell you which claim carries your facts furthest.

A breach notice is the start of an argument

Franchisors draft breach notices to sound final, and they rarely are. The notice has to identify a real breach, the remedy period has to be genuine, and the franchisor has to act in good faith throughout. We review the notice against the agreement and the Code, respond inside the deadline, and preserve every right you have while the pressure is on you to do something rash.

Get the notice reviewed

If a termination notice has landed, move today

The current Code lets a franchisor terminate on 7 days notice for a short list of serious grounds, including fraud, insolvency and danger to public health or safety, and that decision cannot be dragged back into the Code’s mediation process. Your remedy is a court challenge, and the earlier it starts the more options you keep, including urgent orders to stop the termination taking effect.

Most termination fights are not that extreme. They involve an alleged breach, a remedy period, and a franchisor betting you will fold. Whether your notice gives you 7 days or a longer remedy period, the same rule applies: the response you send in the first week shapes the whole dispute.

How the process runs from here

A franchise dispute under the Code moves in stages, and each one is a chance to settle well or badly:

• You or your lawyer sends a notice of dispute stating what went wrong, what outcome you want, and what would settle it
• The parties have 21 days to resolve the dispute between themselves
• Either party can then refer it to mediation or conciliation, with the Ombudsman able to appoint the practitioner
• Arbitration only happens if both sides agree to it in writing
• If nothing resolves, the claim goes to court, usually the Federal Court for Code and Consumer Law claims

Mediation costs are shared: each side pays about half the cost of the process and its own costs of attending, and your franchisor cannot make you pay its legal costs of settling. Franchisees with the same complaint against one franchisor can mediate as a group, which changes the economics for everyone.

What it costs to fight

That depends on how far your franchisor makes you go. Most franchise disputes end at mediation, which is by far the cheapest exit, and the mediation costs themselves are shared roughly half each. Court is the exception. The first call is free, and that is where we tell you whether the dispute is worth fighting and scope the first step before anything starts.

Talk to a franchise dispute lawyer today

The Code timetable rewards the side that prepares first. Call 1800 130 120 or use the form on this page, and we will tell you on the first free call whether your dispute is worth fighting and what each path involves. For the wider picture, start with our franchise lawyers page, see how the Franchising Code of Conduct frames your rights, or read about commercial litigation if your matter is already headed to court.