Government websites fail Māori language test

Central and local government websites have little or no Māori language content despite Māori being an official language of New Zealand, a Human Rights Commission survey has found.

Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres will discuss the findings at the annual conference of the New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters in Wellington tomorrow (11 July).

Mr de Bres said it has been a longstanding aim of government policy to extend the domains in which the Māori language is used, but the government’s own websites did little to advance the goal.

“My challenge to local and central government agencies is to do something about this for Māori Language Week later this month.”

He said a minimum standard should be that central and local government websites have their name in Māori, a link on their home page to Māori content, and basic information on their organisation and services in Māori.

The survey looked at 123 central and local government websites and found that:
• Almost all government agencies have a Māori version of their name on their website (notable exceptions are the Crown Law Office and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet).

• Only a very small number of agencies have fully bilingual websites (notably Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs).

• A few have a Māori option, which mostly leads to page headings in Māori but not necessarily much Māori content (e.g. the Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk).

• A few have a link on their home page to basic information in Māori about their organisation or services or to wider Māori language content (e.g. Education Review Office, Accident Compensation Corporation).

• Most have little or no Māori content and if they do, it is not accessible from the home page. The NZ Police have information in 11 languages, but not in te reo Māori.

Mr de Bres said that for the most part, visitors to government websites would see no indication that Māori is an official language of New Zealand. “The overall impression is of a very monolingual public service.”

ENDS

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