Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage

The winning team from Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage bask in their glory | Julia Luty, Lucy Jackson, and Simon Hubbard

Document name

2021/22 Te Pūrongo ā-Tau Manatū Taonga Annual Report Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Judges’ comments

What separates this annual report from the others is its warm, inviting tone. As a government report, the content creators could have relied on a more traditional voice used in government: third-person, bureaucratic speak, stilted language. However, the 2021/22 Te Pūrongo ā-Tau Manatū Taonga Annual Report Ministry for Culture and Heritage successfully overcomes this barrier and creates a conversation with its readers.

Throughout the document, they use first-person and second-person voice with ‘we’ and ‘you’, which brings the reader into the story. The sentences are mostly short and the language has a warmth that is a refreshing voice in a traditionally stiff communication environment. The report is a good example of how government can modernise its voice and communicate more clearly.

Media statement

We’re ecstatic to have won Best Plain Language Annual Report! It was the first time we had used our new strategy Te Rautaki in our annual report to measure our performance against. With the use of plain language and the help of images and infographics, we really wanted to communicate our vision and to illustrate this through case studies about our work programme.

We believe our annual report has provided the arts, culture, and heritage sector with a better understanding of the direction we are headed, so they can align themselves with it.

Thank you to the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust for celebrating the impact plain language has.

Julia Luty
Manager Te Pae Tuitui Kōrero Communications and Engagement team
Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage