Privacy Policy

Design Shades Pty Ltd (ABN 59 652 598 055) trading as Newcastle Curtains ("Newcastle Curtains", "we", "us", "our")

Last updated: 18 July 2026

1. Our commitment to your privacy

Newcastle Curtains is a wholesale manufacturer of curtains based in Newcastle, New South Wales. We are committed to protecting the personal information we handle in the course of our business and to complying with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we collect, hold, use and disclose it, and how you can access or correct your information or make a complaint.

This policy applies to our website, our online ordering portal, and all other dealings you have with us, including by phone, email or in person.

2. What personal information we collect

Because we supply to approved trade customers, most of the information we collect relates to businesses. However, this often includes personal information about the individuals who own, operate or work in those businesses. The kinds of personal information we may collect include:

Identity and contact details — names, job titles, business names, ABNs, email addresses, phone numbers, and business and delivery addresses of trade account applicants, account holders and their authorised staff.

Trade account application information — information provided when applying for a trade account, which may include trade references, business ownership details, and financial information relevant to our internal assessment of credit terms.

Transaction and account information — order history, quotes, invoices, payment records, credit account balances and payment terms.

Portal login information — usernames, passwords (stored in encrypted form) and records of portal activity.

Communications — records of correspondence with us by email, phone, web form or through the portal.

Website usage information — information collected through cookies and analytics tools, such as IP address, browser type, pages visited and time spent on our website (see section 6).

Marketing preferences — whether you have opted in or out of receiving marketing communications from us.

Job applicant information — if you apply to work with us, information contained in your application and gathered during recruitment.

We do not ordinarily collect sensitive information (such as health information) and will only do so with your consent or where required or permitted by law.

3. How we collect personal information

We collect personal information:

directly from you, when you apply for a trade account, register for or use our online ordering portal, place an order, complete a form on our website, or contact us by phone, email or in person;

from your business colleagues, for example where an account holder nominates authorised users for the portal;

from trade references you nominate as part of a trade account application; and

automatically through our website and portal via cookies and analytics tools (see section 6).

Where reasonably practicable, we collect personal information directly from the individual concerned. If you provide us with personal information about another person (such as a staff member), please ensure they are aware of this Privacy Policy.

4. Why we collect, hold and use personal information

We collect, hold and use personal information to:

assess and process trade account applications, including undertaking our own internal assessment of appropriate credit terms;

set up, administer and secure accounts on our online ordering portal;

process quotes and orders, manufacture goods to your specifications, arrange delivery or pickup, and provide customer support;

issue invoices, process payments, manage credit accounts and recover amounts owing;

send you service and transactional communications about your account and orders;

with your consent or as otherwise permitted by the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), send you marketing communications about our products, pricing and news (you may opt out at any time — see section 9);

operate, secure and improve our website and portal, including analysing how they are used;

comply with our legal obligations, including taxation, corporate and record-keeping requirements; and

protect our lawful business interests, including managing disputes and enforcing our terms of trade.

5. Who we disclose personal information to

We do not sell personal information. We may disclose personal information to the following types of third parties, only to the extent necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

Freight and delivery providers — to deliver orders to you.

Accounting and invoicing software providers — we use cloud accounting software (such as Xero or MYOB) to manage invoicing, payments and accounts.

Email and marketing platform providers — we use third-party platforms (such as Mailchimp) to send account communications and marketing emails.

Website, portal and IT service providers — including web hosting, cloud storage, software support and cyber security providers.

Analytics providers — such as Google (including Google Analytics and Google Ads) and Meta (Facebook), which provide the analytics, advertising and remarketing tools described in section 6. Some of these providers are located overseas (see section 8).

Professional advisers — such as our accountants, auditors, insurers and lawyers, where reasonably necessary.

Debt collection agencies and credit management providers — if an account becomes overdue and recovery action is required.

Government agencies, regulators, courts and law enforcement — where required or authorised by law.

We take reasonable steps to ensure third parties who handle personal information on our behalf are subject to appropriate privacy and confidentiality obligations.

Our credit assessments for trade accounts are conducted internally. We do not disclose your information to, or obtain reports from, credit reporting bodies.

6. Cookies, analytics and website tracking

Our website and online ordering portal use cookies and similar technologies (such as tags, pixels and local storage). Cookies are small files stored on your device that help our website and portal function, keep you logged in, remember your preferences, and help us understand how our website is used.

We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:

Essential and functional — to operate our website and portal, keep you securely logged in, and remember your settings. These are necessary for the site to work properly.

Analytics and performance — to collect statistical information about website traffic and usage patterns so we can measure and improve our website. For this we may use tools such as Google Analytics. This information is generally aggregated and is not used by us to personally identify you, although it may include your IP address and device identifiers.

Advertising and remarketing — to measure the effectiveness of our advertising and, where used, to show our ads to you on other websites and platforms. For these purposes we may use tools such as Google Ads and the Meta (Facebook) advertising pixel.

Some of these technologies are provided by our website and portal platform and its associated service providers as part of delivering and securing our site.

The specific tools we use may change from time to time as our website and marketing evolve. Some of these providers are located overseas, and information collected through these technologies may be processed outside Australia (see section 8).

You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings, and most browsers let you refuse or delete cookies. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, and you can manage advertising preferences through the settings provided by Google and Meta, or through industry opt-out tools such as youronlinechoices.com.au. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our website and portal, including your ability to stay logged in.

7. Automated decision-making

We do not currently use computer programs to make, or substantially assist in making, decisions that could significantly affect your rights or interests. Trade account applications, credit terms and order decisions are assessed by our staff.

If we introduce any such automated decision-making in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy to describe the kinds of personal information used and the kinds of decisions involved, in accordance with the Privacy Act.

8. Overseas disclosure

Some of the third-party service providers we use (including our analytics, email marketing and cloud software providers) may store or process personal information on servers located outside Australia, including in the United States and other jurisdictions in which those providers or their data centres operate.

Where we disclose personal information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure the overseas recipient handles it in a manner consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.

9. Direct marketing

We may send you marketing communications about our products and services where you have consented or where otherwise permitted by law. Every marketing email we send includes a functional unsubscribe facility. You can also opt out at any time by contacting us using the details in section 14. We will action opt-out requests promptly.

10. How we hold and protect personal information

We hold personal information in electronic form in our business systems, our online ordering portal and the systems of our third-party service providers, and in limited hard-copy records at our premises.

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, including:

password-protected and access-controlled systems, with access limited to staff who need it to perform their roles;

encryption of portal passwords and use of secure (HTTPS) connections on our website and portal;

reputable third-party providers with their own security safeguards;

secure storage of hard-copy records; and

staff awareness of privacy and confidentiality obligations.

We retain personal information for as long as it is needed for the purposes described in this policy or as required by law (for example, taxation and corporate record-keeping requirements), after which we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.

11. Data breaches

We take data security seriously and maintain procedures for responding to suspected data breaches. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm to affected individuals, we will notify the affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme under the Privacy Act.

12. Accessing and correcting your personal information

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you, or ask us to correct it if you believe it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading. Trade account holders can also update most account and contact details directly through the online ordering portal.

To make an access or correction request, contact us using the details in section 14. We will respond within a reasonable period (usually within 30 days). We will not charge you for making a request or for correcting your information, though we may charge a reasonable fee for providing access where permitted by law. If we refuse a request, we will give you written reasons and information about how you can complain about the refusal.

13. Complaints

If you have a question or concern about how we have handled your personal information, or believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact us using the details in section 14. We take complaints seriously and will investigate and respond, usually within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:

Website: www.oaic.gov.au

Phone: 1300 363 992

Post: GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001

14. Contact us

Privacy Officer Newcastle Curtains 9/32 Templar Place, Bennetts Green NSW 2290 Email: [email protected] Phone: 02 4946 0500

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, including to reflect changes in our business practices or the law. The current version will always be published on our website with the date it was last updated. We encourage you to review it periodically.