New Zealand’s Plain Language Act 2022

Last updated: 2 April 2024 (by Simon Hertnon)

Contents
What is the Plain Language Act 2022?
What does the Act require?
Who does the Act impact?
Why does the Act matter?
Who enforces the Act?
How has the Act been implemented?
More information

What is the Plain Language Act 2022?

New Zealand’s Plain Language Act 2022 (‘the Act’) requires public servants to use plain language when writing to ‘the public generally’.

Its purpose is ‘to improve the effectiveness and accountability of public service agencies and Crown agents … by [requiring] those documents to use language that is: (a) appropriate to the intended audience; and (b) clear, concise, and well organised.’ Notably, this is a definition of generic good writing that could apply to any document written in academia, business, or government. The Act makes no mention of using simple words and short sentences, which many public servants wrongly assume to be the requirements of plain language.

The purpose of New Zealand's Plain Language Act 2022
The meaning of ‘plain language’ as defined New Zealand’s Plain Language Act 2022

The Act also aims ‘to improve the accessibility’ of information, including for ‘people with disabilities’ (such as poor eyesight).

TIMELINE
The bill was first tabled in 2012.
September 2021   Bill drawn in ballot
October 2022   Bill is enacted
April 2023   Act came into force

What does the Act require?

The Act requires 69 ‘reporting agencies’, including every public service department (eg the Inland Revenue Department, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Health) and every Crown agent (eg, the ACC, Maritime New Zealand, NZTA, NZTE), to ‘take reasonable steps to ensure that all relevant documents for which [the agency] is responsible use plain language.’

‘Relevant documents’ are those written in English that (in summary) provide information to the public generally. So internal documents and correspondence are both excluded. However, the skills required to write ‘clear, concise, and well organised’ documents are the same for any written output.

The responsibility (‘duty’) for meeting this requirement ultimately lies with the Public Service Commissioner in the case of public service departments; and the ‘responsible Minister’ of each Crown agent.

Who does the Act impact?

Meeting the requirements of the Act impacts most of the 115,000-odd public servants who work for public service departments or Crown agents. Although a minority (perhaps only 20%) work directly on producing public-facing documents, the majority are involved in developing the information and advice that forms the content of the ‘relevant documents’, such as The Budget.

Ultimately, the Act impacts all New Zealanders, because we all need clear and accessible information about essential public services, including healthcare, education, transport networks, social services, and the tax system.

Why does the Act matter?

The Act matters because the comprehensibility and accessibility of all information matters, particularly information coming from public servants to the public they are employed to serve. The Act also matters because clear information is integral to the cost-effective provision of any service. Information that is unclear, overly long, or poorly organised creates unnecessary cost, confusion, and distraction.

The Act is New Zealand’s first formal instrument to require the public service to produce clear information. As such, the Act is similar to a professional standard, such as a food-safety standard or a product-quality standard (and should, in my opinion, be supported by a simple, non-binding, clear information standard that applies to every document produced by knowledge workers across every sector).

Who enforces the Act?

The Act came into force on 21 April 2023, and the responsibility for enforcement lies with:

  • The Minister for the Public Service (currently, the Hon Nicola Willis) 
  • The Public Service Commissioner*
  • One or more ‘Plain Language Officers’ from ‘within or outside [each reporting] agency’

* The Public Service Commissioner is responsible for issuing ‘guidance on how reporting agencies comply with [the] Act’.

How has the Act been implemented?

The Act was ‘implemented’ during April 2023 through the last-minute publication of the Public Service Commission’s guidance for agencies. Over time, each of the 69 ‘reporting agencies’ appointed at least one plain language officer, whose responsibilities include ‘dealing with feedback from the public’ about their agency’s compliance with the Act.

My point-by-point analysis of the guidance identified significant shortcomings, which I have shared with the Commission. While constructive dialogue is ongoing, 99% of New Zealanders remain unaware of the Act’s existence, plain language is still incorrectly assumed by most to be exclusively about jargon and sentence length, and government writing that is ‘clear, concise, and well organised’ remains the exception rather than the norm.

More information

Cover of Clear Concise Compelling 2ed

If you have any questions about the Act that are not covered above, please contact me by email at simon[at]nakedize.com, or reach out through LinkedIn.

New Zealand government resources

Plain language training resources