Commerce Commission
Finalist: Best Plain English Turnaround
Anti-competitive practices web page
Judges' comment
The original ‘Brainstrain’ was sleep inducing and required constant re-reading to gauge the meaning of a section. By comparison the overall quality of this rewrite is excellent. The information is easily absorbed and the document is fit for purpose, engaging, clear, simple, well laid out, easy to navigate, and draws the eye.
Media statement
The Commerce Commission is delighted to again be a finalist in the Plain English Awards.
A key part of the Commerce Commission’s strategy is to increase understanding of the benefits of competition, the benefits of sound regulation, and to help consumers make informed decisions. We can only achieve these aims if we communicate in language our stakeholders understand. Adopting the plain English approach has been a significant step towards better communication.
The Commission has embarked on a rapid culture change programme. In the first year this included training all staff to write in plain English and introducing a performance objective on using plain English for all staff. In the second year of the programme we finalised a new Style Guide for our documents and added more training on subjects such as collaborative writing, and editing and proofreading. We are now producing best practice example documents to add to the guidance offered to staff.
Most importantly, we are now publishing a range of documents that are clearer and easier to read. While we still have room for improvement, plain English has become embedded in our culture. We all provide an important check on each other — to ‘plain English’ something has become a verb at the Commission.
Since being awarded a Brainstrain award two years ago we have worked hard to turn around our writing style. We rewrote the web page Anti-competitive practices (for which we received the ‘Brainstrain’ award) so that it is easier for readers to understand. We continue to rewrite or write new content for the site in Plain English.
We have made this investment in the capability of our staff as recognition that better communication about what we do, how we do it and why we do it is critical to our success as an organisation. We thank the WriteMark Plain English Awards for recognising the ‘turnaround’ we have made.
Brent Alderton
CEO