Office of the Auditor General takes premier plain English Award
Media release: WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust
3 September 2010
EMBARGOED UNTIL 11PM, FRIDAY 3 SEPTEMBER
Winners of the WriteMark New Zealand Plain English Awards were announced tonight at a ceremony in the Beehive, with top
honours going to the Office of the Auditor General.
The Office was judged New Zealand’s best plain English organisation for its overall commitment to clarity. Their $10,000
prize will be spent on a plain English research project at the Office. Judges described the entry as very strong across
all critical success factors.
The Auditor General makes sure public sector organisations and local governments perform according to Parliament’s
intentions. Manager of Reports and Communications, Lynley Jenkins, says it’s vital that people can easily understand and
act on what the Auditor General says.
“We set out to make clear, accurate writing a part of our everyday working life and trained all 300 of our staff at
seven locations in plain English writing skills.
“All forms of our writing have improved—from emails to our document templates to our major published reports—and we're
determined to continue improving.
“We are delighted to have won this award because it recognises the hard work of everyone involved, and encourages us to
continue building.”
ACC’s Handling Cattle Safely won in the Best Plain English Document—Public Sector category. Judges commended its conversational yet persuasive tone,
saying reading it was like yarning with a fellow farmer while receiving vital information.
The Best Plain English Document—Private Sector Award was won by Sonar6, a company that develops Human Resources
materials. Judges said its performance review documents tackled a dry and highly sensitive topic in a colourful,
inventive and dynamic way that “couldn't help but engage”.
A new Award this year for Best Plain English Technical Communicator was won by Meredith Evans of documentation firm
Streamliners NZ. Meredith impressed the judges with her ability to explain complex subjects in plain language and for
her use of supporting illustrations.
Judge Dr Neil James, Executive Director of the Plain English Foundation inw:st="on" Sydney , said standards had lifted
once again and the best entries went well beyond plain words and into design and structure.
“Even the best-drafted text will not reach the highest standards if its structure is unbalanced or the design makes it
hard to navigate,” he said.
Altogether 13 Awards were handed out at the ceremony, with four of these going to documents or websites nominated by the
public. These include Brainstrain Awards, which are reserved for badly written documents that could cause people
problems.
The Commerce Commission received a Brainstrain Award for the Anti-competitive pricing section of its website which,
judges said, started off well but soon ‘turned to molasses’. The Office for Senior Citizens received a Brainstrain
Award for its brochure Home Equity Release Code of Practice due to its convoluted sentences and potential to confuse.
Peter Hughes, Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development, which runs the Office for Senior Citizens, accepted
the award as an unwelcome but well-deserved win.
"No excuses – we've let ourselves and older people down with this one. The code is being rewritten and will be released
soon in a version much easier to read.
“It’s a shame because elsewhere in the Plain English Awards, the Ministry of Social Development has done really well.”
The Ministry’s Child Youth and Family won in the Best Plain English Website—Public Sector category and was a finalist in
the Best Plain English Document—Public Sector category.
Tonight’s Awards ceremony was held at the Banquet Hall at Parliament and hosted by Hon Christopher Finlayson,
Attorney-General and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage. The Plain English Awards are an annual not-for-profit
event run by the WriteMark Plain English Awards Trust.
Note: A full list of finalists and winners is attached.
–
2010 WriteMark New Zealand Plain English Awards
Winners and finalists
EMBARGOED UNTIL 11PM, 3 SEPTEMBER 2010.
Winners and finalists do not know who they are and must not be contacted before the 11pm embargo.
Category 1
Plain English Champion—Best Organisation
Winner
Office of the Auditor-General
Finalists
• Cancer Society of New Zealand
• Statistics New Zealand
Plain English Champion—Best Project
Winner
InfraTrain New Zealand—Horizontal Drilling (HDD) Qualification & Resource Development
Finalists
• Ministry of Justice—Civil Justice in the District Courts of New Zealand
• Ministry of Social Development—Integrity Services Letters
Plain English Champion—Best Individual or Team
Winner
Stephen Leong—Transpower New Zealand Ltd
Finalists
• Cancer Society of New Zealand
• Statistics New Zealand
Category 2
Best Plain English Document—Public Sector/Non-Government Organisation (NGO)
Winner
ACC Handling Cattle Safely
Finalists
Child, Youth and Family When We Visit
InfraTrain New Zealand Horizontal Directional Drilling Guide
Best Plain English Document—Private Sector
Winner
Sonar6 Performance Review Marketing Materials
Finalists
House of Travel Our Business is Your Business Travel
PORSE Let’s PORSE
Category 3
Best Plain English Website—Public Sector/Non-Government Organisation (NGO)
Winner
Child, Youth and Family www.cyf.govt.nz
Finalists
Career Services www.careers.govt.nz
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority www.energywise.govt.nz
Best Plain English Website—Private Sector
Winner
The Wheeling Gourmet http://en.wheelinggourmet.com
Finalists
Kiwitax www.kiwitax.co.nz
Martelli McKegg Wells & Cormack www.martellimckegg.co.nz
Category 4
Best Sentence Transformation
Please note: The judging panel ranked four finalists (including winner) as two good entries were of equal merit
Winner
Alan Groves—Transpower New Zealand Ltd
Finalists
Judith Wright—Statistics New Zealand
Maryland Spencer—ACC
Alison Smith—Thames–Coromandel District Council
Category 5
Best Plain English Technical Communicator
Winner
Meredith Evans—Streamliners NZ Ltd
Finalists
Erwin Timmerman—Dynamic Controls
Lesley Hanes—Statistics New Zealand
Category 6
People’s Choice—Best Plain English Document
Winner
BT Funds Management (NZ) Limited Multi Sector Unit Trusts Investment Statement
Finalists
Elections New Zealand Enrolment Form
People’s Choice—Best Plain English Website
Winner
NZ Transport Agency www.nzta.govt.nz
Finalists
Air New Zealand Grabaseat
http://flightbookings.airnewzealand.co.nz/vgrabview/en_NZ/
IRD Child Support
www.ird.govt.nz/childsupport
People’s Choice—‘Brainstrain’ Document
Winner
Office for Senior Citizens Home Equity Release: Code of Practice
Finalists
NZ Post International Registered Mail prepaid envelope
People’s Choice—‘Brainstrain’ Website
Winner
Commerce Commission
www.comcom.govt.nz/anti-competitive-practices/
Finalists
New Zealand Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS)
www.gets.govt.nz/default.aspx?show=HomePage
Massey University Bachelor of Communication
www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/programme-course-paper/programme.cfm?prog_id=93330
ENDS