Plain Language Awards

Celebrate the stories of our clearest business communicators

2009 Awards

Congratulations to the finalists and winners in the 2009 WriteMark New Zealand Plain English Awards

And the winners are...

Congratulations to our 2009 plain language heroes


Plain English Champion — Best Organisation

Winner: Office of the Banking Ombudsman

Finalist: Ocean Design

Finalist: Waikato District Health Board


Plain English Champion — Best Project

Winner: NZ Transport Agency — Feet First 2009

Finalist: ACC — Redesigning www.acc.co.nz

Finalist: Cancer Society New Zealand — Questions You May Wish to Ask: A Guide for People with Cancer


Plain English Champion — Best Individual or Team

Winner: Cancer Society New Zealand — Editorial Team

Finalist: Department of Corrections — Corrections Inmate Employment Team

Finalist: Simpson Grierson — Julie O'Brien, Professional Development Manager


Best Plain English — Document Public Sector / Non-Government Organisation (NGO)

Winner: Ministry of Justice — Parenting Plans: Parents’ Guide to Making Plans for Their Children after Separation

Finalist: Environment Bay of Plenty Regional Council — Backyard, issue 17

Finalist: Ministry of Consumer Affairs — Before You Borrow Money


Best Plain English Document — Private Sector

Winner: Pinnacle Life — Life Cover Policy Document

Finalist: PeopleMedia — On the Level: A Guide to How We Treat People Around Here


Best Plain English Website Public Sector / Non-Government Organisation (NGO)

Winner: ACC — www.acc.co.nz

Finalist: Inland Revenue — www.ird.govt.nz/studentloans

Finalist: Ministry of Education — www.schoolpayroll.govt.nz


Best Plain English Website — Private Sector

Winner: Springload — www.springload.co.nz

Finalist: Pinnacle Life — www.pinnaclelife.co.nz

Finalist: Seafood Industry Training Organisation — www.seafoodito.co.nz


Best Sentence Transformation

Winner: ACC

Finalist: Greater Wellington Regional Council


People’s Choice Best Plain English Document

Winner: Royal Commission on Auckland Governance — Auckland Governance: Executive Summary

Finalist: Air New Zealand — Grab-A-Seat Weekender Deal: Terms and Conditions


People’s Choice — Best Plain English Website

Winner: Ministry of Fisheries — fs.fish.govt.nz

Finalist: ESL News New Zealand — eslnews.org.nz

Finalist: Smith & Wild — www.smithwild.co.nz


People’s Choice — ‘Brainstrain’ Document

Winner: Real Estate Institute of New Zealand — Sale of Real Estate by Auction

Finalist: Ministry of Justice — Application by One Party for Order Dissolving a Marriage or Civil Union


People’s Choice — ‘Brainstrain’ Website

Winner: Vodafone NZ — Prepay Broadband Terms and Conditions www.help.vodafone.co.nz/

Finalist: Department of Internal Affairs — dia.govt.nz

Finalist: Plain Communications — www.plain.co.nz