Key messages from the September board meeting.
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At our recent NZSL Board September 2025 meeting, we had a full and productive agenda.
Meetings with government agencies
We met with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, and Health New Zealand. Each agency shared updates about their work that connects to NZSL. It’s important that NZSL stays a priority for these agencies, as Deaf people use many of their services and are affected by their policy decisions.
The information we received will help us monitor progress on the NZSL Strategy and report to the Minister for Disability Issues.
Te Rōpū Kaitiaki update
Te Rōpū Kaitiaki shared their work programme with us. We were pleased to see good progress and new opportunities to grow Turi Māori leadership and learning.
Discussion on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
We took the time to share our thoughts on AI and how we can support government agencies by giving them advice on when and how to use AI when using NZSL. AI is a complex issue and is changing quickly. At a future Board meeting we will discuss more about what advice we can give the government.
NZSL Team at Whaikaha
The NZSL team at Whaikaha gave us an update on their priorities and the contracts they’re managing for 2025/2026. These meetings also give us a chance to connect with Whaikaha staff, including Deputy Chief Executive for Outreach and Innovation, Rebecca Elvy.
Whaikaha shared that there has been a lot of changes, including new systems such as procurement process, as part of becoming a standalone Ministry. There have also been team changes, including Tom (the previous manager) leaving. They are now recruiting a new Advisor who will focus on supporting the NZSL Board. A Board member was part of the interview panel for this role.
Current priorities
The team’s biggest priority is the NZSL Strategy and the action plan that will go with it. They’re also working to support the NZSL Board and Te Rōpū Kaitiaki by updating documents like the Terms of Reference, progressing interpreter standards, and managing contracts and community grants.
Interpreter standards
Work on interpreter standards has slowed due to limited team capacity. Whaikaha will soon advertise for a Programme Lead to take this work forward.
NZSL Strategy
We gave feedback on the final draft of the NZSL Strategy, which reflects what people told us during community consultation. We were pleased to hear that many government agencies also engaged during their consultation period. We’re looking forward to working with these agencies to improve services and access to information in NZSL.
We’ll be confirming the launch dates for the NZSL Strategy and action plan soon and will share those with everyone.