Privacy Policy

Allen & Unwin Pty Limited ACN 003 994 278

1. General

Allen & Unwin Pty Limited (A&U) publishes books and other titles including literary and commercial fiction, general non-fiction, academic and professional titles and books for children and young adults. A&U is also the Australian and New Zealand agent for a number of international publishers and runs the Faber Writing Academy, which offers a range of writing courses. A&U operates the website at www.allenandunwin.com and various social media sites including the blog at www.thingsmadefromletters.com and the Facebook pages at www.facebook.com/AllenandUnwinBooks and www.facebook.com/allenandunwinteen.

Murdoch Books and Murdoch Books UK (together Murdoch Books) are both divisions of A&U that specialise in illustrated books. Murdoch Books operates the websites at www.murdochbooks.com.au and www.murdochbooks.co.uk, and various social media sites including the Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/MurdochBooks.

In this Privacy Policy:

1. references to A&U shall include each of its divisions including Murdoch Books;
2. the "Websites" shall mean www.allenandunwin.com, www.murdochbooks.com.au and www.murdochbooks.co.uk; and
3. the "Social Media Sites" shall mean the social media sites operated by A&U, as detailed further on the Websites.

This Privacy Policy applies to all personal information collected, held, used and disclosed by or on behalf of A&U, including in its operation of the Websites. It describes such collection, holding, use and disclosure and your rights of access and correction of your personal information. Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not. A&U is committed to respecting the privacy of individuals, and ensuring that its dealings with the personal information of its authors, readers, booksellers and others comply with the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Act).

A&U may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be effective as of the date they are posted on this page.

2. Collection of your personal information

(a) What kind of personal information do we collect?

A&U may collect personal information including (but not limited to) the following: your title, name, address, email address (personal and work), telephone numbers, employer name, fax number, date of birth and payment details. We may also collect other types of personal information that you share with us in connection with:

1. your submission of a work for publication by A&U or one of the publishers for which A&U is an agent;
2. your submission of an entry for the The Australian / Vogel's literary award;
3. your entry into a competition, including on one of the Websites or on a website set up by A&U specifically for the conduct of a competition;
4. your addition of content, access to and receipt of content on one of the Websites or the Social Media Sites;
5. your participation in a Faber Writing Academy course; and
6. your feedback (including complaints) in relation to A&U's products and services.

We also collect other information that is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our business functions and activities.

(b) Why does A&U collect your personal information?

Where A&U collects and holds personal information, it is collected and held for our business purposes, which are generally to provide products and services to our customers, to operate our Websites and Social Media Sites, and to administer our relationship with authors, readers, booksellers, the media, author agents, suppliers and others. These purposes include the following:

1. Online sales – to enable us to fulfill orders placed via the Websites;
2. Booksellers – to manage our relationship with our bookseller partners, including by stocking books to them;
3. Corporate partners – to manage our relationship with our corporate partners, including by fulfilling orders placed by them;
4. Authors and suppliers – to enable us to publish books on behalf of our authors;
5. Media – to manage our relationship with our media contacts, including by promoting upcoming book releases and other events to them;
6. Events - to send customers and other stakeholders invitations to, or information about, events, competitions, promotions, products or services;
7. Competitions – to facilitate the conduct of promotions and competitions, including on the Websites and on websites set up specifically to conduct competitions;
8. Newsletters and special offers – to provide customers with details of events, products and services of A&U via our newsletters and special offer emails; and
9. Feedback and Complaints – to improve our products and services.

These purposes are detailed further on the Websites. You are not required to provide us with your personal information, however if you do not do so, we may be unable to provide you with certain content, products, services or information, to accept entries into promotions or competitions, or to process your orders.

(c) How does A&U collect your personal information?

In most instances, we collect personal information directly from our authors, customers, booksellers, suppliers and others. For example, when a bookseller emails us to enquire about stocking a book, we may collect their contact details so we can respond to them. However there are exceptions to direct collection, including in relation to our Referrals system (discussed below).

We will not collect personal information where such collection would be unlawful or unrelated to A&U's business activities or functions. The means by which we collect your personal information includes (but is not limited to) the following:

1. Email - If you send us an email, for example to enquire about the release date for a particular book, we will record your email address.
2. Telephone enquiries - If you call us to make an enquiry, we may ask for your contact details including your name, email and telephone number.
3. Referrals - You may have the option to "tell a friend" about particular products, events or other material on the A&U website by submitting your name and email address along with your friend's name and email address. We will not use your friend's email address for any purpose beyond the purpose for which you provided it to us (including adding it to any mailing list) without their consent. You or your friend may contact us to remove respective names and emails from our records by emailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
4. Forms - If you wish to register a user account, subscribe to our newsletters or other alerts, or submit a "Contact Us" form via one of the Websites, you will be required to complete an electronic form. As part of this process, you will be required to enter personal information including your name and email address. We might also collect your personal information when you sign up to one of our hard copy mailing lists.
5. Shopping cart - If you make purchases via one of the Websites, you must provide us with personal information to allow us to process your order and payment and to deliver the purchased item to you. We keep a record of your purchase data for our reporting and accounting purposes. This data may be used by A&U for the purpose of marketing other products or services to you, but only with your consent.
6. Information gathered by website technology - The Websites may use cookies or other technology to make a record of your visit and log your information for statistical and business purposes. Such information includes your server address, domain name, IP address, the date and time of your visit, pages accessed, documents downloaded, previous website visited and the type of browser used. The data collected from cookies helps us to analyse browsing patterns of users in order to improve the content and design of the Websites. Cookies are used throughout the shopping process to help us serve you better each time you return.

If you do not wish for your information to be gathered on a cookie it is possible to disable the acceptance of cookies by your web browser. If you want to do this you should contact your ISP. If the Websites use a cookie to deliver content we think will interest you, the cookie may also be used for authentication.

The information collected from these cookies is for the exclusive use of A&U and will not be disclosed to any third parties.

3. Use and disclosure of your personal information

We generally use and disclose personal information for the purpose for which it was originally collected (see section 2(b)). We may also use or disclose it for another purpose if you consent to that secondary purpose, or where you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose it for that secondary purpose (and the secondary purpose is related to the purpose for original collection).

In addition, A&U may use or disclose personal information:

1. where required or authorised by or under an Australian law (including the Act) or court/tribunal order; or
2. if certain situations set out in section 6.2 of the Australian Privacy Principles apply, including where we hold a reasonable belief that the use or disclosure is required for certain enforcement or healthy and safety purposes, or that use or disclosure is necessary in relation to certain suspected unlawful activity or misconduct; or
3. if reasonably necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal or equitable claim;
   
   Your personal information may be disclosed to:
   
   
4. external service providers, for example in relation to their storage and management of databases, management of website and email traffic, processing of credit card information and fulfilment of orders from the Websites – this disclosure will always be on a confidential basis and such service providers will be limited in their use of your information to the purpose of A&U activities only;
5. specialist advisers who have been engaged to provide legal, administrative, financial, insurance, research, marketing or other services; and
6. any other person authorised by you, as specified by you.

If we disclose your personal information to third parties, we impose strict obligations of security and confidentiality regarding the way they handle that information. We do not grant them permission to sell or transfer your personal information and they may only access your personal information to the extent necessary for the services A&U requires.

We do not generally disclose personal information to recipients in overseas countries. However, as an international business that regularly engages with overseas stakeholders, in limited circumstances we may disclose to overseas recipients with your consent (which may be implied).

A&U may at other times notify you about its disclosure practices in relation to specific services that it provides in relation to its activities.

4. Holding and securing your personal information

Once collected, we may hold your personal information in a number of different formats, including (but not limited to) software programs (located both onsite and offsite, including in the cloud), databases, filing systems and in offsite backup storage.

A&U takes all reasonable steps to protect your personal information from loss, unauthorised access, modification, disclosure, interference or other misuse.

5. Other websites

If the Websites or any of the Social Media Pages contain a link to another website, A&U will not be responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such other websites.

6. Access to and correction of your personal information

At any time, you may request access to personal information about you that A&U holds by contacting our Privacy Officer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by mail addressed to the Privacy Officer, Allen & Unwin, 83 Alexander Street, Crows Nest, NSW 2065, Australia. A&U will process your request within a reasonable time. If A&U is not legally required to provide access to the personal information requested and exercises its discretion not to provide that information, we will let you know our reasons for doing so. We may charge you for the cost of accessing your personal information, but if we do so the charge will not be excessive and will not apply to the making of the request.

Please notify A&U promptly if there are any changes to your personal information. You may ask A&U at any time to correct personal information it holds about you by contacting our Privacy Officer using the details above, and A&U must respond to you within a reasonable time.

7. Complaints

If you have a complaint about A&U's compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles, you should contact our Privacy Officer using the details provided in section 6. A&U will investigate your complaint and respond to you within a reasonable time and in accordance with its legal obligations. It will take any necessary corrective actions promptly.

For further information about privacy issues, see the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's website at www.oaic.gov.au.