NZSL Act Review 2011 - How was the review carried out?

In 2010, the Minister for Disability Issues asked the Office for Disability Issues to start work on the review of the NZSL Act.

The NZSL Act said that three years after it was agreed, a review had to be done on how it was working and whether any changes were needed.

In January 2011, the Minister for Disability Issues made a video that called for Deaf people and others to have their say about the NZSL Act. Over the following three months, people and groups could send in their views by email, fax, post, or by sending a video in NZSL.

The Office for Disability Issues put out a guide with 12 questions on the NZSL Act to help Deaf people have their say in the review. We also asked Deaf Aotearoa to organise meetings around the country to help Deaf people take part.

There was good interest in the review:

• 18 community meetings were organised by Deaf Aotearoa, which involved over 177 Deaf people
• 41 written or video submissions were made, which include 11 from the community meetings.

The Office for Disability Issues looked at what everyone said and wrote a report for the Minister for Disability Issues. We suggested some actions that could be taken. The Minister took the report to other Government Ministers, and they agreed what should be done. The decisions by Ministers are written in what is called a Cabinet paper.

You can read the Minister’s Cabinet paper at: Cabinet paper - Review of the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006

You can read the review report at: New Zealand Sign Language Act Review 2011