Statistics New Zealand — Editorial Team
Winner: Plain English Champion — Best Individual or Team 2013
Melanie Biss of ANZ, Sarah Stacey-Baynes (Awards judge), and Erinna Gilkison of Statistics New Zealand
Judges' comment
Statistics New Zealand’s entry displays its strong commitment to plain English and its complete understanding of how to encourage its use.
The Editorial Team promotes clear communication by providing stimulating workshops. They give out useful information that can be directly applied to improve writing.
Media statement
The editing team at Statistics New Zealand is proud to be part of a government department that encourages plain English.
Our staff are encouraged to follow our plain English standard for everything we write. Our statistical analysts have the challenging task of representing highly complex information to a general audience.
As editors, our daily work is to help these authors write more clearly and with their readers in mind. We suggest ways to ‘plain-English’ their writing and make it more reader-friendly.
We also help develop and maintain the plain English culture in the organisation by sharing what we know through events and publications.
Statistics NZ collects the information that helps to tell the story of the country. By using plain English, we can tell that story in a clear and easily understandable way.
Judith Wright
Team Leader Editorial