15Disclosure of information by franchisor

#### 15 Disclosure of information by franchisor (1) A corporation shall not enter into a franchise agreement as franchisor unless, not less than 3 business days before the day on which the agreement is entered into, it has supplied to the franchisee a statement in writing containing all information in the possession of the franchisor and related corporations, being information relating to the operation or proposed operation of the marketing premises and reasonably likely to influence the decision of the franchisee to enter into the agreement. (2) A statement referred to in subsection (1) shall, for the purposes of that subsection, include information relating to the following matters: (a) all amounts to be payable by the franchisee to the franchisor under the agreement or, in the case of amounts not fixed by the agreement, the manner in which those amounts are to be calculated or determined; (b) all goods and services to be required to be accepted by the franchisee under the agreement; (c) particulars of any finance that is, or is to be, offered to, or required to be accepted by, the franchisee under or in connection with the agreement; (d) the provisions (if any) of the agreement containing limitations or restrictions relating to: (i) goods that may be sold, and services that may be provided, by the franchisee; or (ii) the persons or classes of persons to whom goods may be sold, and services provided, by the franchisee; (e) the extent to which the franchisee is to be required or, where the franchisee is a body corporate, the extent to which a person or persons specified in the agreement is or are to be required, to engage personally in the operation of the marketing premises; (f) the provisions (if any) of the agreement relating to training of the franchisee or, where the franchisee is a body corporate, relating to training of a person or persons specified in the agreement; (g) the rights of the franchisee under the agreement and under this Act relating to the termination and renewal of the agreement; (h) where the agreement contains a provision of a kind referred to in subsection 11(3), the rights of the franchisee under this Act to assign the whole or part of his interest under the agreement; (j) the rights of the franchisee under section 12 with respect to the novation of the agreement; (k) where, during the period of 3 years immediately preceding the date on which the statement is supplied to the franchisee, the marketing premises have been operated for the retail sale of motor fuel by a person other than the franchisee—particulars of that operation, including the profitability of that operation; (m) in respect of any premises situated within 2 kilometres of the marketing premises that were, during the year immediately preceding the date on which the statement is supplied to the franchisee, operated by a person other than the franchisee for the retail sale of motor fuel supplied by the franchisor or a related corporation: (i) the situation of the premises; (ii) the name under which business was carried on on the premises; and (iii) whether or not that business was carried on by a franchisee, agent or employee of, or under any other arrangement with, the franchisor or a related corporation; (n) the total number of franchise agreements to which the franchisor and related corporations, respectively, were parties and which were avoided, terminated, or not renewed, by the franchisees during a specified period of a year that expired not more than 4 months before the date on which the statement is supplied to the franchisee; (p) the total number of franchise agreements to which the franchisor and related corporations, respectively, were parties and which were terminated, or not renewed, by the franchisor and those corporations during the period referred to in paragraph (n), together with a statement of the reasons for each termination or non‑renewal; (q) any plan or scheme under consideration, or negotiations entered into, by the franchisor or a related corporation for the operation, at any time during the term of the agreement, of premises (other than the marketing premises) for the retail sale of motor fuel, where the operation of those premises could adversely affect, to a material extent, the profitability of the marketing premises; (r) any proposal, plan or decision made by the Commonwealth or a State or Territory, or a local governing body, concerning the resumption or acquisition of land, the construction, closure or alteration of any road, or any other matter of a town planning nature, that could adversely affect, to a material extent, the profitability of the marketing premises; (s) any other prescribed matters. (3) The express provisions of subsection (2) are not intended to imply a limitation of the generality of the description in subsection (1) of information to be contained in a statement referred to in subsection (1). (3A) The regulations may, for the purposes of subsection (1), specify the information, and the manner of presenting the information, required to be included in a statement referred to in that subsection, being information relating to any of the matters referred to in paragraphs (2)(a) to (s) (inclusive). (4) In relation to a franchise agreement entered into by way of renewal of an agreement that was entered into (whether by way of renewal or otherwise) after the commencement of this Act, subsections (1) and (2) shall not be taken to require the disclosure of any information unless: (a) it differs in a material particular or to a material extent from the information supplied by the franchisor to the franchisee in accordance with those subsections at the time when the agreement to be renewed was entered into; or (b) it relates to a matter concerning which, or a period in relation to which, no information was supplied to the franchisee in accordance with those subsections at that time. (5) Where a franchisor enters into a franchise agreement in contravention of subsection (1), the agreement is voidable at the instance of the franchisee. (6) An agreement is not voidable under subsection (5) by reason of the failure by the franchisor to disclose, or the false, misleading or incorrect statement by the franchisor of, any information unless: (a) the information was material to the operation, including the profitability of the operation, of the marketing premises; and (b) the franchisee would not have entered into the agreement if the information had been duly and correctly disclosed to him. (7) An agreement is not voidable under subsection (5) by reason only that a provision of the agreement is at variance with any part of the statement made in accordance with subsections (1) and (2), being a part relating to that provision, if the variation was made at the request in writing of the franchisee. (8) A franchise agreement entered into by way of renewal of an agreement that was in effect immediately before the commencement of this Act is not voidable under subsection (5) by reason only of the non‑disclosure in the statement made in accordance with subsections (1) and (2) of any information required by those subsections to be disclosed, if that information was disclosed in writing to the franchisee at any earlier time. (9) A reference in this section to the renewal of an agreement shall be read as including a reference to the entering into of a franchise agreement immediately following the expiration of an interim franchise agreement, where the parties to both agreements and the marketing premises to which the agreements relate are the same. (10) This section does not require a franchisor to supply any information to a person by reason only of his becoming a franchisee in relation to the agreement by way of assignment or novation. (11) Where a person becomes a party to a franchise agreement by way of assignment of the whole or part of the interest of the franchisee in the agreement, the reference in subsection (5) to the franchisee shall be read as, or as including, as the case may be, a reference to that person.