SA MP ups the ante on franchise law reform

South Australian MP Tony Piccolo has stepped up the pressure on the Federal Government to imminently reform the Franchising Code of Conduct, bringing the State one step closer to introducing its own franchising laws.  

On September 10 the House of Assembly of the SA parliament unanimously passed a motion moved by State Labor MP Tony Piccolo that it would consider introducing its own franchising laws should the Federal Government not implement reform within a reasonable time.

The Federal Government is due to respond to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporation and Financial Services inquiry into franchising which looked at recent Western Australia and South Australia reports which recommended reform.

Piccolo said “All three inquiries reached the conclusion that those weaknesses in the current code could be addressed without any significant increase in compliance costs or any negative impact on competition. Indeed, most of the inquiries concluded that it would improve competition by increasing transparency in the franchise industry and, importantly, deliver better price outcomes to consumers.

“I strongly believe that the time has now come for the federal government to tackle this very important issue for both economic and justice reasons.”  

“The focus of reform has never been on regulating the industry to protect people who make bad decisions. It is about creating a level playing field and transparency; it is about having processes so that, when disputes occur, there is a level playing field for dispute resolution.”  

Piccolo said he would give Dr Craig Emerson, the Federal Minister for Small Business, until 1 December 2009 to respond before tabling a private members bill to change State laws to address the franchising issues. The date is 12 months from the release of the federal report into franchising last year.

"I'm hopeful the Minister will respond before then," he said.

Piccolo wishes three areas of concern to be addressed by the franchising code reform:

• The issue of good faith
• Dispute resolution
• Penalties for law-breaking

This article appears in the Franchising Articles listing courtesy of 5 Minute Franchising Newsletter