Lynda Harris, Chief Executive of Write Group and founder of the Plain Language Awards, gave this speech at the Awards ceremony on 30 October 2025
Tēnā koutou — welcome
Thank you — not only for celebrating here with us tonight, but most importantly for all the caring, insightful, and hard work that brought you here. Since the first Awards ceremony nearly 20 years ago, I’ve given a speech as a plain language professional, hoping to inspire a captive audience like you, that communicating clearly, and truly reaching people, is nothing less than a superpower with limitless potential for good.
But tonight, I’m dropping my own perspective to allow the people on the receiving end of essential, but poorly written, information speak for themselves.
Two years ago, I stood here as we were celebrating the existence and potential of the Plain Language Act. This year, in an extraordinary turn of events, we’ve witnessed the move to repeal that progressive world-leading Act.
Tonight’s celebration, in this beautiful venue, is not the time or place to dwell on that, but, if we were to find a silver lining, it’s been the massive, publicly recorded outpouring of support for plain language. Submissions triggered by human experiences that gave us a deep, detailed, and sobering understanding of why plain language matters to real people in a very real way.
From the nearly 1700 submissions on the Plain Language Act Repeal Bill, we can get a picture of, and hear, the voice of the people. Given that it takes time and commitment to write a submission, and that many spoke on behalf of groups, I am confident that they represented tens of thousands more.
So who was speaking? And who were they speaking to?
If we could magically have all submitters up here with me tonight, rather than just being a grey number in the submissions list, this is who you would see and hear.
- You’d see a large number of individual citizens, many explicitly identifying as neurodivergent, disabled, parents, older adults, or those having personal experience with language barriers. They’d share their personal stories of difficulty navigating government systems.
- You’d see representatives of disability organisations, speaking for those with intellectual and physical disabilities, learning disabilities, neurodevelopmental conditions, and sensory impairments — and of organisations like IHC, People First, NDSA, Deaf Aotearoa, Autism NZ, Fragile X NZ, Rare Disorders NZ, Parents of Vision Impaired, and more.
- Also standing here would be many representing Māori groups and perspectives: often highlighting disproportionate impact on Māori communities. You’d see many from other ethnic communities and church groups representing those who need to access services that may be beyond reach.
- You’d see community organisations of all kinds: groups like Healthy Families Waitākere, the Zero Hunger Collective, and Citizens Advice Bureau.
- Interestingly you’d also see quite a few past and present government employees, who argued for a much greater emphasis on plain language to stop wasting money and resources on inefficient communications.
Everyone from these diverse groups would speak from their unique perspective But their wishes are the same — no more complex, jargon-filled language that excludes people, leads to inefficiencies, that creates questions, more inquiries, and misunderstandings, and undermines trust in democracy and institutions who they should be able to rely on.
And just to be clear, these voices aren’t talking about what we might call gobbledygook — that’s rarely the problem.
It’s a question in an email they wrote that went unanswered … a key piece of information they needed that was buried in voluminous web copy … a string of acronyms that meant nothing … a tone that offended … muddled or contradictory instructions … language that alienated … impenetrable terms and conditions that no one read … a template letter that missed the point …
Just everyday sloppiness or thoughtlessness that we’ve all experienced — a lack of care that becomes a solid barrier to accessing critical information.
If these voices were here, who would they be they speaking to?
They would be speaking to government employees…
If you work in a Ministry or other government agency, they are speaking to you.
Many are named, such as Ministry of Social Development (MSD), Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), Inland Revenue (IR), Ministry of Health, Department of Internal Affairs
They are telling you about difficulties with benefit applications, emergency housing guides, tax forms, healthcare entitlements, disability support, financial penalties, and emotional distress
If you work in the Ministry of Health, public health services, and other healthcare-related government programmes, they are telling you about patient safety, informed consent, poor forms, and overall health equity, especially for disabled people, non-native speakers, and Māori/Pasifika whānau.
Parents of disabled children note the burden of deciphering bureaucratic language for support systems.
If you work in the Justice and Legal System Agencies, including family court, IRD and financial agencies they are talking to you about many aspects of access, inequality, inefficiencies.
If you work in Immigration New Zealand and MSD, they have messages for you too.
… and the private sector too
And they’d be speaking to the private sector, especially law, finance, and health — not covered by the Act but still featuring frequently in communications that cause disadvantage and confusion.
I suspect that if I asked for a show of hands now, to see who felt that they were being spoken to by the submitters, or people similar to them, most hands would go up. That’s because, collectively, you represent services that matter, from central and local government, to law, finance and health and more.
Your role as supporters of plain language
Of course, you’re listening as the converted. By being here tonight you’ve already shown that you understand. However, the majority in your sector probably don’t.
We have heard many of you say that, even without the Act, you will continue to write with your reader in mind. You’ll continue to embrace and write to an agreed standard that focuses on the reader and embodies empathy, clarity, and care.
But you are just 100 or so of over 480,000 people who work in central or local government, or other crown entities — close to 20% of our total workforce.
Add to this another 30,000-plus in legal and financial services and more in private health services, you can see that just across those sectors alone, well over half a million writers across New Zealand urgently need to adopt plain language principles to communicate life-impacting information to everyday people. That’s a big ask that relies on the converted, like you. especially when, you represent only 0.02% of that group.
Without huge, deliberate effort, poor-quality information will continue to waste precious resources and negatively impact us all in some way — especially the most vulnerable.
So, apart from continuing your good work, what can you do? Ideally, we’d have a ‘bring back Marmite’ style campaign 😊
Instead, let’s take away from here the very real voices you have heard. As we see the Awards being given out tonight, be inspired by the impact of the deliberate, thoughtful effort behind them. Celebrate your own success far and wide. Be the loud, persistent voice for the people.
When you see the template letter that doesn’t work, the webpage that causes confusion, the project poorly briefed, or simply a lack of empathy and care in writing, speak up. Let your ah-ha moments be contagious. You know that plain language principles are worth fighting for — you’re doing it for the people.
He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata!
What’s the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people!
Meet the winners of the 2025 Plain Language Awards
Meet the people who make the Awards happen
Nicola Welby November 6th, 2025
Posted In: Communications
Tags: 2025 Plain Language Awards, Awards ceremony
Remember, Australians can enter the Awards too! | Image by vectors icon on pexels.com
In 2021, we opened the Awards to our plain language counterparts in Australia to enter. Despite the temptation for some trans-Tasman rivalry, it’s been a win-win situation ever since!
More Australian entries would be bonza!*
We’re keen to see more entries from Australia. So if you’re responsible for some plain language goodness or you know a worthy contender, here’s how to enter.
Enter the 2025 Plain Language Awards
*Australian slang for ‘awesome’, ‘great’, or ‘amazing’.
Australians have been past finalists and winners
Since 2021, plain language enthusiasts in Australia have wasted no time in entering the Awards and showing the judges they have the clear communication goods!
Finalists and winners since 2021 include:
Australian-based entries can enter all Awards categories
People and businesses in Australia are welcome to enter any of our 13 categories. You can also nominate the good and the bad in our two People’s Choice categories — the Best Plain Language Communication and the Worst Brainstrain Communication.
You just need to meet the same conditions as entrants do in New Zealand. You’ll also need to be an organisation that’s registered in Australia, or have a registered Australian address.
The standard entry fee for people in Australia is AUD$125, and AUD$65 for registered charities.
See our terms and conditions
Six judges from Australia are sharing their expertise on our judging panel
Every year, the Awards is fortunate to have Australian judges gracing our judging panel. And this year, we have six — some new, but most returning judges from past years.
Their plain language expertise is impressive. But it’s gold when combined with the perspectives and skills from the fields they work in: health communication, law, policy, academia — and even a founder of the Plain English Foundation in Australia and judge of the inaugural Awards in 2006.
Did I mention gold?!
See our judging panel for 2025
Megan Bennett July 18th, 2025
Posted In: Communications
We celebrated the Plain Language Awards at Parliament in 2023 and will again this year | Image of LCC Chamber in the New Zealand Parliament by Hellie Hadfield
We’ve made a submission against the Plain Language Act Repeal Bill. You can read it below!
Submission of the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust against the Plain Language Act Repeal Bill
The WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust strongly opposes the Plain Language Act Repeal Bill.
The Act supports effective, efficient, and cost-effective government
The 2022 Plain Language Act was something New Zealand could be proud of — a forward thinking, citizen-centric piece of legislation that supported more effective, efficient, and cost-effective government. It should have been bipartisan, but it wasn’t.
In 2022 we made a submission in support of the Plain Language Bill. The reasons for our support then are the very same reasons that we now oppose the repeal of the Act. For that reason, we have pasted relevant parts of our 2022 submission below.
Excerpt from the Trust’s 2022 submission
‘Over the past 17 years our interactions with public and private sector organisations, and members of the public, have given us an insider’s view of how language quality affects organisational outcomes and citizens’ lives. We can say unequivocally, that much public sector writing falls far short of the label ‘plain’. Many documents are unclear, lack a human-centred approach, and do not fulfil their purpose.
So, we strongly support any initiative to improve the quality of public-facing government documents. Our view is coloured by both the negatives mentioned below from the People’s Choice category and, conversely, by surveys that capture the real-world impact of excellent documents.
The public speak — evidence of harm and frustration from poorly written documents
In particular, documents and websites nominated in the People’s Choice Worst Brainstrain Communication category emphasise the degree of harm and frustration, not to mention the waste of time and resources, created by poor writing.
A high proportion of the nominations in the Brainstrain category are complaints and concerns about communications from government agencies. They document the damage, frustration, and stress caused by unclear or misleading information, forms, and policies. Just a few examples of government agencies ‘dobbed in’ by the public include the Reserve Bank, Inland Revenue, Commerce Commission, Ministry of Education, Department of Internal Affairs, Parliamentary Service, Earthquake Commission, and the (then State) Services Commission.
In many of the Brainstrain category nominations, we hear the real-world stories from people who were not served well by their government. They missed a deadline, couldn’t access a health service, missed out on the right benefit, underpaid tax, or didn’t apply for a government job — all because they didn’t understand, or they misunderstood. Most of these cases paint a picture of members of the public feeling vulnerable, disillusioned, and unheard.
Applying lessons from the good
Of course, the Plain Language Awards are mostly about celebrating the good. We see outstanding examples of plain language every year and applaud those government agencies who write for the public with clarity and empathy. What would happen if all agencies wrote to that high standard? What if excellence were the norm?
Those agencies that write well give us a glimpse of what the Plain Language Act could achieve. Based on the outcomes noted on the entry forms of category winners, we’d see a positive transformation in writing quality inside government agencies. This shift would in turn result in a positive change in public perceptions.
In government agencies we’d see:
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- significant efficiencies in producing documents, saving time and salaries
- greater ability to meet deadlines, with a better-quality result
- fewer misunderstandings
- more coherent, better planned messaging — getting it right the first time
- less time and angst answering the public’s queries because confusion has been removed
- less time editing or reworking colleagues’ documents that fall short of the basic standards of plain language
- less money being wasted on civil servants having to learn new ways of writing every time they move departments
- the likelihood that government ministers would drop their personal preferences that cost so many writers so much time.
We’d also see:
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- easier working lives and greater job satisfaction for ministers and civil servants alike — this means reduced stress, fewer sick days, few resignations, and reduced likelihood of unmotivated workers
- a recognisable government style that is clear, human, and helpful.
For members of the public, we’d see:
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- people feeling empowered to access the information they need
- more equitable access to information because people can find and understand the information they need
- reduced need to contact agencies to clarify information or instructions
- greater trust and confidence in government communications
- an observable humanising of tone, even in communications from regulatory agencies.
Additionally, businesses and other organisations would gain a touchstone for what good writing looks like — an impact that cannot be underestimated.’
The passing of the Act mirrored a worldwide trend towards adopting professional plain language standards in business and government
We are also dismayed and, quite frankly, embarrassed that the New Zealand government should so publicly and actively signal their indifference and lack of support for clarity in government communications. The repeal comes at a time when the ISO International Plain Language Standard is being adopted by organisations around the world, and many governments now have legislation or regulations requiring plain language. Although the government says it still supports plain language, the repeal bill will create cognitive dissonance and disharmony for the general public.
Retain the Act and uphold the Spirit of Service
We hope the Select Committee will see the sense in retaining the Plain Language Act to require clear, accessible government communications and to deliver significant cost savings.
Retaining the Act will also help live up to the long-held public sector aspiration, and indeed the fundamental characteristic of the public service, Te Hāpai Hapori — the Spirit of Service.
See our full submission below.
Join the conversation over on LinkedIn
Nicola Welby May 16th, 2025
Posted In: Communications
The 2025 Awards categories. Which one(s) will you enter?!
You’ve got plenty to choose from
All 13 categories are open again for the 2025 Plain Language Awards. So there’s plenty of choice for plain language champions with the good stuff to share! Here’s a quick rundown of the categories.
Small but mighty — quick and easy to enter
Nothing is more powerful than a ‘before and after’ to highlight what plain language can do for people. So dazzle the judges with an unwieldy sentence, document, or webpage that you’ve transformed or turned into reading bliss for busy people.
These categories are the quickest and easiest to enter — but ‘oh so powerful’ with their content.
Best Plain Language Sentence Transformation
Best Plain Language Turnaround
Show us your docs! Annual reports, legal docs, and anything in between
Everyone reads your documents. You get results. People do the things they need to do easily. That’s because you create fit-for-purpose content that people can easily find and understand. Let everyone see this beauty — to see that it’s possible. Yes, even the legal stuff!
You’ll find categories to suit any document type.
Best Plain Language Document — Public Sector
Best Plain Language Document — Private Sector
Best Plain Language Annual Report
Best Plain Language Legal Document
Websites that don’t make people work
Worked wonders on a website that doesn’t make people work to find and understand info? If so, you’re the uncelebrated hero. Let us celebrate you!
Government organisation or private business, big or small — here are two categories to suit.
Best Plain Language Website — Public Sector
Best Plain Language Website — Private Sector
Technical communicators represent!
You’re the wrangler of complexity, the maker of clarity, the bringer of ‘aha!’ — the technical communicator. Thank goodness we have you!
Show the judges your best work — how you turn the technical and tricky into clear content.
Best Plain Language Technical Communicator
The premier category — for organisations and people championing plain language at work
If you, your team, or your organisation are leading the charge with championing a plain language culture at work, these are the categories for you.
You might be convincing your leadership team to adopt a plain language initiative, running workshops, or creating plain language projects. Or your organisation might be successfully embracing a plain language ethos that meets business and client needs.
Here are your categories.
Plain Language Champion — Best Organisation
Plain Language Champion — Best Individual or Team
The good, the bad, and the ugly — nominate a communication that stands out
Give a shout out to a document or website that was easy to read. Or call out one that strained your brain.
Even better, encourage people who may not know plain language is a thing to nominate. We all know when something is frustrating, unintelligible, or confusing! Likewise, when we find information easy to absorb and use.
The People’s Choice category is the only category open all year and has two awards.
Best Plain Language Communication
Worst Brainstrain Communication
Megan Bennett April 29th, 2025
Posted In: Communications
We're all people trying to connect with other people | Image by Fauxels on pexels.com
We’re simply people communicating with other people
Plain language writers, creators, and designers can relate to this whakataukī (Māori proverb) beautifully!
He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata!
What’s the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people!
We’re all people trying to connect with other people. And when we use plain language, it shows we value that connection enough to care deeply about how we communicate and help other people.
Plain language matters to everyone — whether we know it or not
While we celebrate our work through the Plain Language Awards, others don’t know plain language is even a thing. They don’t know that life can be simpler if information is easy to find, understand, and use.
We all know people’s stories of frustration, hurt, uncertainty, and even harm that can come from unclear information. These stories come in many shades.
- A frazzled elderly person trying to pay for parking on a machine with confusing instructions
- A business owner with dyslexia who thinks it’s their fault they can’t understand how to tender for work on an unintelligible online portal
- A tired new mum working out how to dress their cesarean wound from wordy, unclear instructions in a hospital discharge letter
We also have the other side.
- A worker writing a standard operating procedure (SOP) that’d take someone 20 minutes before they found out how to deal with the toxin they’d just inhaled
- A school sending busy parents a newsletter about an upcoming school camp that mentions you need to have your child at school at 6.45am — on page 5
- A business owner throwing every bit of info they can at their clients, hoping that’ll seal the deal
We help people value how they connect with others
Then there’s us — the writers, designers, creators, learning developers, and user-testers — connecting people and proving the value in doing so. Digging into empathy, backflipping into people’s worlds to understand their needs, and convincing others to convey their information in the most helpful way they can.
People creating connection, clarity, and confidence by being courteous. People helping people to understand the value in caring for and valuing other people.
He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata!
We’re all in this together.
Meet the team behind the Plain Language Awards
Make a nomination for the People’s Choice category
Megan Bennett April 16th, 2025
Posted In: Communications
Ever had to sign a contract you couldn't understand? | Image by Hellie Hadfield
Communication: as easy as it seems?
It’s easy to take communication for granted. It seems so natural to many of us.
But imagine, for a moment, you are suddenly dropped somewhere where everyone speaks an alien language — all the signs, information, and applications for assistance are suddenly indecipherable. How would you manage?
At least 17% of New Zealanders speak English as a second language. This means that none of the information around them is in their native tongue.
Access to services should be universal
Now imagine your elderly mother needs medical assistance, but the form she needs to fill in is written in an impossibly tiny font. The words are all squished together, and swimming on the page.
Did you know 1 in 5 Kiwis are blind or partially sighted?
Words matter. How we present them matters too.
Readability is key
And mutilated language can catch out even the most fluent and full-sighted among us.
How about your neighbour, who lost everything in a cyclone and then found that their insurance didn’t cover ‘acts of God’. But because this information was buried in pages and pages of small print, with no margins, at the very end of the policy, they didn’t know?
Or your cousin, who has recently migrated to New Zealand and is trying to correspond with an immigration lawyer. But all the information they are given is written in Elizabethan English?
Or a sleep-deprived young mum, who needs to apply for parental leave pay, but the overly complex website keeps sending her round and round in circles?
This.
Plain language for the win
This is the importance of words, and how they are presented.
This is the importance of plain language.
And the real-world difference it makes.
Get involved
Have you seen a great example of plain language? Or a not-so-great one?
Nominations are open year-round for the People’s Choice categories in the Plain Language Awards.
People’s Choice — Best Plain Language Communication
People’s Choice — Worst Brainstrain Communication
Hellie Hadfield February 1st, 2024
Posted In: Communications
Our newest trustee | Nicola Airey
We’re very excited to welcome Nicola Airey as a trustee for the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust. Nicola joins current trustees Lynda Harris, Wayne Wright, and Nicola Welby.
With her passion for building meaningful brands, helping them grow through clever marketing, and doing good things for the community along the way, Nicola Airey is a fantastic asset to the team.
She’s worked in a wide range of corporate, government, not for profit and community groups, delivering clever strategies that build business, promote the brand, and positively impact the community. This experience, and her expertise in engaging with stakeholders, nurturing sponsorships, and managing events, will be invaluable.
She’s excited to be joining the Awards team — particularly at a time when clear communication and plain language have never been more important.
‘It is a privilege to be part of the Awards Trust, supporting the improvement of language to improve lives. If we can build the Awards, and more importantly, the profile of the importance of plain language across Aotearoa New Zealand, we can make such a difference. The stories shared by previous award winners of how they have influenced change inspire others. We need more businesses to understand that plain language isn’t a fad. It delivers bottom line benefit and customer experience.’
And Nicola knows what it takes to introduce plain language to an organisation and keep the momentum up. Plain language has always been core to her strategies for communications and customer engagement. At Medical Assurance Society (MAS) she introduced and oversaw a significant programme of work to bring plain language into focus. This effort was recognised when MAS won a number of categories in the 2022 Plain Language Awards.
We’re excited to have Nicola joining us as we take the next steps on our journey to grow the Plain Language Awards.
Welcome, Nicola!
The Plain Language Awards team
Hellie Hadfield December 14th, 2023
Posted In: Communications
Tags: Avocate, Plain Language Awards, Plain Language Awards Team, Trustee, WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust
A fond farewell to our longstanding trustee and chair | Gregory Fortuin
This year we farewell Gregory Fortuin as Chair of the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust with bucketfuls of gratitude. A staunch supporter of the Awards for years, Gregory has decided it’s time to pass the mantle of Chair on to someone new.
Gregory has always had a passion for making a difference and helping people to transform their lives for the better. A wonderful spokesperson for the Awards on many occasions, Gregory knows how to get straight to the point. Poor communication disadvantages people. Plain language breaks down barriers and makes for a more equitable society.
Gregory continues to serve on many boards and trusts, both in business and in the community. You’ll likely continue to hear him in the media commenting on important issues that affect us all.
We are so grateful for everything Gregory has done for the Plain Language Awards as trustee, chair, plain language advocate, and friend. We wish him well on the next part of his journey.
Kia ora Gregory
The Plain Language Awards team
Hellie Hadfield December 14th, 2023
Posted In: Communications
Tags: advocate, WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust
Our much-loved patron | Chloe Wright
We are deeply saddened by the news of Chloe Wright’s passing this weekend. As Patron of the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust, Chloe was a passionate advocate for plain language and a dear friend.
We are immensely grateful for all that she did to support the work of the Trust. Chloe’s enthusiasm and energy was infectious. She gave much and inspired more.
Kua hinga te tōtara o Te Waonui a Tāne | The tōtara has fallen in the great forest of Tāne (Hear an explanation of this Māori proverb: https://lnkd.in/gF5cVqxJ)
Read about our patron on the Plain Language Awards website https://lnkd.in/g8ZYTZX6 😢
Read the news article on sunlive.co.nz https://lnkd.in/gf5JDUik
Hellie Hadfield September 24th, 2023
Posted In: Communications
Entries are still open! | Image by Hellie Hadfield
It’s down to the wire for entries, with the submission deadline tomorrow at midnight. If you’re still working away on your entry, here are seven top trophy tips to get a great result.
Here’s what the judges said!
- Make sure your submission stands out by using plain language and including visuals as well as words. Don’t just dump a lot of examples on the judges and assume we’ll get it. Rather carefully pick and choose examples and deliberately walk us through them — make the connections for us.
- Write for time-poor scanners who aren’t lawyers (this goes for all documents, but especially the technical ones!).
- Imagine you are in a room while the judges are reading out your entry and your comments, and everyone is looking at you.
- Even if you’re racing to meet the Awards deadline, make sure your entry and your comments are a joy to read. This is the ultimate evidence that you truly write for your reader.
- Push the envelope. Break down people’s assumptions of how your type of document or website ‘should’ look.
- (In the legal category), avoid legal jargon. If there’s a plain English equivalent that won’t jeopardize your legal rigour, use it!
- Really take your time to comment on your entry. If you explain what you’ve done and why you’ve done it, it helps me as a judge to get the bigger picture.
For more top trophy tips, check out our website, or watch our Q&A with Head Judge Simon Hertnon.
Trophy Tips webpage
Trophy Tips Q&A webinar
Entries close tomorrow night, so be quick and enter before they close!
Enter on our website
All the best with your entry!
Hellie Hadfield August 1st, 2023
Posted In: Communications
