Franchising lawyer and BMM contributor Simon Young offers food for thought with concerns regarding the South Australian Franchising Bill.

Chalpat Sonti in Fairfax Media published A Good Idea But Does It Goes To Far  based on Simon’s opinion piece which is attached below in its entirety. He asks whether such legislation might inadvertently catch groups not targeted.

Is franchising in such a dire state that powers similar to those claimed necessary to prevent terrorism are necessary?

Simon has been a vocal advocate for effective franchising reform and critic of the response to date from the Australian Government to 3 Inquiries.  He has continually argued that existing and tabled dispute resolution proposals have or will fail.

His major concern with the Tony Piccolo MP, South Australian Bill appears to be whether it is up for fine-tuning in certain areas particularly regarding the role and powers of the proposed Commissioner.

The only other organisations in Australia with powers even remotely similar are corruption commissions and intelligence services.

Simon Young is the legal practice director of Cooloola Law Pty Ltd and practices extensively in franchising matters, acting for both franchisors and franchisees.  He has been a mediator with the Office of the Mediation Adviser, member of the Queensland Law Society Franchising Committee and holds a Masters degree in Law.

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