We’d like to give a huge round of applause to everyone who entered the 2025 Plain Language Awards — and an extra round to our finalists!
Below you can see listed in alphabetical order:
- finalists for most categories
- entries that made the shortlist for each category (but aren’t finalists).
You’ll notice we haven’t published finalists for every category. We can only say that at this stage — any announcement would let the cat out of the bag!
We appreciate the hard work that went into all the entries. And well done to everyone who made it to the shortlists and beyond!
We’ll be in touch with finalists soon — keep an eye on your inbox.
We’ll announce winners at our Awards ceremony on 30 October — find out how you can join us!
We’ll celebrate our finalists and winners at the Awards ceremony on Thursday, 30 October at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand. We’ll also livestream the ceremony so you can watch from wherever you are!
Get a ticket and find out more about the ceremony on our Awards ceremony webpage.
Finalists and shortlists
Plain Language Champion — Best Organisation
Unfortunately, we didn’t receive any entries for Plain Language Champion — Best Organisation this year.
But gather evidence of your organisation championing plain language over the next few months and enter in 2026!
Plain Language Champion — Best Individual or Team
Finalists
- Enliven Plain Language Team, Enliven
- Jamila Savoy
- Specialist Channels team, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi
Shortlist
- National HSQES Team NZ, Fulton Hogan Limited
Best Plain Language Document — Public Sector
Finalists
- National Emergency Management Agency — Catastrophic Event Handbook
- Office of the Inspectorate — Young People and Young Adults in Corrections’ Custody thematic report – Quick-read summary
- Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) Alliance — TREC Pānui – Issue 12
Shortlist
- Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga — Te Rito – Protecting Student Information | A summary of the Te Rito Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) in plain language
- Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland — Media release: Gene-editing offers hope for people with hereditary disorder
- Watercare Services Limited — Tapped In | Autumn 2025 newsletter
Best Plain Language Document — Private Sector
Finalists
- Healthify He Puna Waiora | Health Navigator Charitable Trust — Allopurinol for gout
- Make it Easy Kia Māmā Mai | People First New Zealand Ngā Tāngata Tuatahi — Rainbow Easy Read: Rainbow words and identities
- Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support — Coping with trauma
Shortlist
- Stronger Schools, Streamliners — Autism pathway
Best Plain Language Website — Public Sector
Finalists
Best Plain Language Website — Private Sector
Finalists
- Citizens Advice Bureau New Zealand | Ngā Pou Whakawhirinaki o Aotearoa — konae.org.nz
- KidsHealth, Paediatric Society of New Zealand | Te Kāhui Mātai Arotamariki o Aotearoa — kidshealth.org.nz
- Volunteering New Zealand | Tūao Aotearoa — volunteeringnz.org.nz
Shortlist
Best Plain Language Sentence Transformation
Finalists
- Jeanette Muscat, Little pink typewriter / FIELD Engineers — sentence from Case Study: Dragline failure investigation and redesign significantly improves design life
- Kate Sumner, Auckland Council — sentence from Annual Plan 2025/2026
- Kate Sumner, Auckland Council — sentence from The Auckland Plan 2050
Shortlist
- Kate Sumner, Auckland Council — sentence from Annual Report 2024/2025
- Reserve Bank of New Zealand | Te Pūtea Matua — sentence from What is legal tender? webpage
- Talking Trouble Aotearoa NZ — sentence from Privacy section on a webpage
Best Plain Language Annual Report
Let’s just say — any announcement at this stage would let the cat out of the bag!
Best Plain Language Legal Document
Unfortunately, we didn’t receive any entries that met the standard for the judges to shortlist this year.
Best Plain Language Technical Communicator
Finalists
- Enliven Plain Language Team, Enliven
- Moretalk and Family Law Section of the New Zealand Law Society
- Nicolina Newcombe and Imalka Kannangara, IHC Group
Shortlist
- Helen Bradford, Capire
- Louisa Eades, WorkSafe
- Mercedes Glover
- Sarah Shore, Fulton Hogan Limited
Best Plain Language Turnaround
Finalists
- Manaaki Tāngata | Victim Support — Coping with trauma
- Palmerston North City Council — Parking tickets webpage
- Reserve Bank of New Zealand | Te Pūtea Matua — What is legal tender? webpage
Shortlist
- Auckland Emergency Management — Auckland Emergency Management Duty Team Manual
- Department of Internal Affairs — 111 emergency service webpage
- Hamilton City Council — Finance and Monitoring Committee webpage
- Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment — Change Lead Guide
- Ministry of Social Development — Overseas pensions webpage
- Ministry of Social Development — Social Security Agreement with Canada webpage
- Predator Free Wellington — Our project – Predator Free Wellington webpage
- Whānau Āwhina Plunket — Support Services 29861 Learner Workbook
Best Plain Language Digital Tool
We created a new category for digital tools when judging started in August this year. We’d received enough entries that didn’t quite fit in either document or website categories.
So we decided the fairest way to assess these entries was in a separate category. And it will likely be a permanent category from next year on!
Finalists
Shortlist
People’s Choice — Best Plain Language Communication
Finalists
Shortlist
People’s Choice — Worst Brainstrain Communication
Finalists
