I am delighted to be releasing the first action plan for the New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Strategy 2026-2036.
The new strategy is ambitious. It aims to address the many issues faced by NZSL users, particularly the Deaf community, when learning and using NZSL. This is a first step in a decade to affirm the status of NZSL as an official language and a taonga for Deaf people.
It is apt this action plan launched during the 20-year anniversary of NZSL being made an official language by the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006.
I am pleased to see practical steps to remove the barriers Deaf people face in accessing; health, education, justice; and emergency information and public services.
I look forward to the public sector leading with NZSL language plans and to progress being made for Deaf learners, so we address gaps in education.
I congratulate the NZSL Board on this important work and look forward to hearing about their progress.
Hon. Louise Upston
Minister for Disability Issues
