Franchisees may often consider their obligations under the
Franchise Agreement as onerous and unequal. This perception, in of
itself, does not necessarily affect the validity or enforceability
of their obligations under the franchise agreement.
However, under the Australian Consumer Law
("ACL") a term in a small
business contract may be declared void if the term
is unfair and the contract is
a standard form contract.
Do the unfair term provisions apply to your franchise
agreement?
In determining whether the provisions in relation to the unfair
terms apply to franchise agreements, the following matters would
need to be considered.
Firstly, the unfair contract provisions under the ACL apply to
small business contracts. A contract is a small business contract
if:
