Privacy policy

1. Overview and our commitment

Rhimahden Plant Nursery, trading as Swan Hill Garden Centre, is a family-owned business run by Peta-Lyn and John Nosatti at 11-15 Sea Lake-Swan Hill Road, Swan Hill VIC 3585. We're committed to protecting the privacy of everyone who visits our nursery, uses our website or gets in touch with us.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, who we share it with, and your rights in relation to it. It applies to our website at swanhillgardencentre.com.au and rhimahdennursery.com.au, our in-store interactions, and our email and SMS communications.

We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). Where this policy refers to "personal information", the term has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act: information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

2. What personal information we collect

We only collect personal information that is reasonably necessary for our business. Depending on how you deal with us, we may collect some or all of the following.

Information you give us directly

• Contact details: your name, phone number, email address and suburb or postcode, when you send us an enquiry, chat with us on our website, sign up for our newsletter or contact us directly.
• Enquiry and chat content: the message or question you send us through a website enquiry form or the chat on our website.
• Marketing preferences: whether you'd like to receive email or SMS messages from us, and which topics interest you.
• In-store visit information: notes we may make after a conversation with you about your garden, soil or plant needs, to help us serve you better on future visits.

Information we collect automatically

• Website usage data: pages visited, time spent on the site, browser type, device type and approximate location (city or region level), collected through Google Analytics.
• Technical data: like most websites, the server that hosts our site (Hostinger) keeps standard technical logs, such as IP address, browser type and the pages requested, to keep the site running and secure.
• Cookie data: information stored by cookies in your browser when you visit our website. See section 6 for details.
• Social media interaction data: if you interact with our Facebook or Instagram pages, or if our Facebook Pixel is active in your browser, Meta may share aggregated data with us about how people use our website and respond to our ads.

What we do not collect

• Payment card details or bank account information. All in-store payments are processed directly through our EFTPOS provider; we never see or store your full card details.
• Sensitive information (as defined by the Privacy Act), such as health information, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions or religious beliefs, unless you choose to volunteer it in a message to us.
• Identity documents.

3. How we use your information

We use personal information only for the purposes we collected it for, or for directly related purposes you would reasonably expect. Specifically, we use your information to:

• respond to enquiries you send us through our website, the website chat, or by phone or email
• send you email newsletters, seasonal gardening updates and promotions, if you have opted in to receive them
• send you SMS messages about time-sensitive news such as new stock arrivals or special events, if you have opted in
• improve our website and understand how visitors use it, using aggregated, anonymised analytics data
• measure how well our Facebook and Instagram advertising works
• keep customer records in our CRM system, so we can remember your preferences and give you better advice when you visit or contact us
• comply with our legal obligations.

4. Third-party services we use

To run our website and keep in touch with customers, we use a small number of trusted third-party services. Each has its own privacy policy, linked below. We chose these providers for their reputation for data security and their compliance with privacy laws.

We do not share your personal information with any other third parties except where the law requires it (for example, to comply with a court order or a regulatory obligation).

5. Marketing and communications

We love keeping in touch with our customers with seasonal planting tips, new stock arrivals and the occasional special offer. But we only contact you if you've asked us to.

Email marketing

We send email newsletters and gardening updates to subscribers who have opted in. Every marketing email we send has an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Click it at any time to stop receiving emails from us. We'll process your request promptly and in line with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).

SMS marketing

We may send SMS messages to customers who have specifically opted in to receive them. We use them sparingly, usually for time-sensitive news like new stock arrivals or event reminders. Every SMS we send tells you how to reply STOP to opt out. Once you opt out, we won't send you any more SMS messages.

Facebook and Instagram advertising

We run paid ads on Facebook and Instagram. We may use the Meta Pixel, a small piece of code on our website, to see whether our ads are working and to show relevant ads to people who have visited our website. You can manage your ad preferences in your Facebook account settings, or opt out of interest-based advertising at youronlinechoices.com.au.

6. Cookies and website tracking

Our website uses cookies (small text files stored on your device) and similar technologies to make the site work properly and to understand how it's being used.

Types of cookies we use

• Essential cookies: needed for parts of the website to work, such as the website chat (run on LeadConnector) remembering your conversation, or an enquiry form remembering your progress. You can't opt out of these without disabling those features.
• Analytics cookies (Google Analytics): collect anonymised data about how visitors use our site: pages visited, time spent and general location. This helps us improve the site. You can opt out with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
• Marketing cookies (Meta Pixel): track whether visitors to our website have clicked on our Facebook or Instagram ads. Meta uses this data to help us measure ad performance and to show relevant ads to website visitors. You can manage this in your Facebook ad settings.

Managing cookies

You can control or delete cookies in your browser settings. Turning cookies off may affect how some parts of our website work. For more on managing cookies, visit allaboutcookies.org.

Do Not Track

Some browsers include a "Do Not Track" feature. Our website does not currently respond to Do Not Track signals, as there is no universally accepted standard for how they should be read. We continue to watch developments in this area.

7. Storage and security

We take the security of your personal information seriously. Our website is hosted on Hostinger. Enquiries, chat conversations and customer records are kept in LeadConnector (Leadout), our CRM platform, which uses industry-standard security measures including data encryption, access controls and secure data centres.

How long we keep your information

• Enquiry form and chat submissions: kept for up to 3 years, so we can follow up and keep our service records.
• Marketing subscriber records: kept for as long as you stay subscribed, plus 12 months after you unsubscribe.
• In-store customer notes: kept indefinitely unless you ask us to remove them, as they help us give you better advice over time.
• Website analytics data: kept in aggregated, anonymised form under Google's standard retention periods.

When we no longer need personal information, we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it securely.

8. Your privacy rights

Under the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you. We will respond to any request within a reasonable time, and in most cases within 30 days.

• Access: you can ask what personal information we hold about you, and request a copy of it.
• Correction: if your information is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete, you can ask us to correct it.
• Deletion: you can ask us to delete your personal information, subject to any legal obligation we have to keep certain records.
• Opt out: you can opt out of email or SMS marketing at any time, without affecting your use of our website or your visits to the nursery.
• Information: you can ask us to explain how we use your personal information and who we share it with.
• Complaints: if you're not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the OAIC.

How to make a request

To use any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 11. We may need to verify your identity before we act on a request. We won't charge a fee for handling a reasonable privacy request.

Complaints to the OAIC

If you're not satisfied with how we've handled a privacy concern after contacting us, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:

• Website: www.oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992
• Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

9. Children's privacy

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 15. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have accidentally collected information from a child under 15, please contact us straight away and we will delete it as quickly as possible.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology or legal obligations. When we do, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.

If we make material changes, particularly changes that affect how we use your personal information, we'll take reasonable steps to let you know, such as by email (if you're a subscriber) or with a notice on our website.

We encourage you to review this policy from time to time. If you keep using our website or services after an update, you accept the revised policy.

11. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, want to access or correct your personal information, or would like to make a privacy complaint, please get in touch. We'd love to sort things out with you directly.

We aim to respond to all privacy requests within 5 business days. For formal complaints, we'll acknowledge receipt within 5 days and aim to resolve the matter within 30 days. If a matter needs more time, we'll let you know.