The Plain Language Act changed nothing
New Zealand passed a law requiring public agencies to write plainly. It took effect on 21 April 2023, and government writing did get easier afterwards, but the timing clears the law of the credit. The improvement began before the Act commenced, showed no jump at commencement (grade 14.66 in the weeks before, 14.63 after, same government), and continued under the government repealing it, reaching its recent best in late 2025, mid-repeal, before worsening again in 2026. Neither the Act nor its repeal moved the needle; changes of government did. Writing sat about five and a half school years above the plain-language standard before the Act, and the same after.
Show the evidence
The commencement test, same government, either side of 21 April 2023
| Window | Releases | Avg grade |
|---|---|---|
| Hipkins govt, pre-Act (25 Jan – 20 Apr 2023) | 267 | 14.66 |
| Hipkins govt, post-Act (21 Apr – 26 Nov 2023) | 580 | 14.63 |
The timeline, average grade by half-year
| Half-year | Avg grade | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 H2 | 15.09 | the peak |
| 2023 H1 | 14.65 | biggest drop, mostly pre-commencement |
| 2023 H2 | 14.46 | Act in force |
| 2024 H1 | 14.35 | new government |
| 2024 H2 | 14.41 | |
| 2025 H1 | 14.31 | repeal bill first reading, 1 April |
| 2025 H2 | 14.04 | recent best, mid-repeal |
| 2026 H1 | 14.25 | worsening again |
Sources
- 2022-10Plain Language Act 2022, legislation.govt.nz
- 2025-04Repeal bill passes first reading, beehive.govt.nz
Method, Flesch–Kincaid grade over the body of every release in each window, quote-aware sentence counting, the 1,027 releases with fewer than 5 sentences or over 45 words per sentence excluded, leaving 54,789. Comparing within one government controls for the change of government, which is what actually moves the average. Full year-by-year figures are on The Reading Age of Power.