Department of Internal Affairs
Finalist: Plain English Champion — Best Organisation 2013
Judges' comment
Evidence of the Department’s plain English culture is its use of clear communication principles, its accessible content, and willingness to share good practice with other departments through its Web Toolkit.
In this project, the Department of Internal Affairs combined thorough planning and user testing to create a website that gives New Zealanders the information they’re looking for. Beta.govt.nz has clear layout and the site is well organized. The Department of Internal Affairs consulted with a lot of government departments, collecting data from others and sharing its own knowledge.
Media statement
The Department of Internal Affairs is delighted to be a finalist in this year’s WriteMark Plain English Awards.
Through the Government ICT Strategy and Action Plan, we have been tasked with improving the way government interacts with New Zealanders online by changing our approach to providing information about services. We are clearly going to have to work in a very different way. Expectations are that government services will be designed and delivered around the needs of New Zealanders, not organisational boundaries.
Beta.govt.nz is a glimpse into the future of how government services and information will be offered. It’s very different to the existing site, newzealand.govt.nz, and gives you an idea of what government information and services could look like in the future. It puts customers at the centre, and orientates information, services and transactions around customer needs, rather than around agency structures.
Laura Sommer
Team Manager Digital Engagement