The federal government will address the power imbalance between small business franchisees and their franchise masters, potentially allowing penalties of up to $50,000 for companies that break the industry’s code.

Small business minister, Bruce Billson, told The Australian Financial Review the conduct of some big franchises towards their franchisees was a concern and the coalition would introduce some of the recommendations of the 2013 Wein review of the franchising code.

“There are real pressures in the franchising sector where there’s a heavy dependence [between parties] and it’s not an adult-to-adult commercial relationship,” Billson told the AFR.

Billsion added the Abbott government would take action early this year “to maintain world class regulatory support for a crucial part of the economy”.

“Most people don’t realise that a small business has no more market power than an individual so we’ve made a commitment in that space to advance it in the coming year.”