Useful info, guides and resources - all in one place
There is a lot of guidance out there for public sector comms, content and social media teams. The only problem is, most of it is scattered around dozens of different websites.
So I’ve brought together a bunch of information I have found handy, and collated it for you below.
It’s not all from New Zealand, I’ve included examples of best practice that I’ve found overseas, too.
If you find something else which I could include, please let me know at seamus@seamus.nz. I’d love to grow this resource over time to make it as useful as possible.
Enjoy.
Contents
Accessibility
Advertising
Artificial Intelligence
Benchmarking
Brand
Communications
Crisis/emergency comms
Data
Governance
Language
Disability language
Rainbow language
Sign language
Te reo Māori
Other languages
Overseas
Media policy
Photography
Plain language
Privacy
Signage
Social media dos and don’ts
Social media policy
For organisations
For individuals
Social media strategy
Social media from the archive
Style
Web standards
Contrast checker
Accessibility
The government’s Web Accessibility Guidance project features advice on UX, alternative formats, content types, and roles.
https://govtnz.github.io/web-a11y-guidance/
Comprehensive guidance around alt text, captions and titles for images from the Australian government style guide.
https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/content-types/images/alt-text-captions-and-titles-images
And requirements and standards for video and audio, also from the Australian government style guide.
https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/content-types/video-and-audio/requirements-and-standards-video-and-audio
The UK’s Government Communications Service has info on planning, creating and publishing accessible social media campaigns. Includes making hashtags and emojis more accessible, plus how to add alt text to a range of popular platforms.
https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/digital-communication/planning-creating-and-publishing-accessible-social-media-campaigns/
MSD has a Word doc: Accessibility Guide: Leading the way in accessible information. It appears to have last been updated in 2021.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/accessibility/accessibility-guide/index.html
Advertising
The Public Service Commission’ guidelines for government advertising includes a checklist and a range of scenarios to give you examples of what is ok and what isn’t.
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/guide-he-aratohu/guidance/guidelines-for-government-advertising
Artificial Intelligence
The New Zealand government’s interim Generative AI guidance for the public service.
https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/technology-and-architecture/artificial-intelligence/interim-generative-ai-guidance-for-the-public-service
The Australian policy for the responsible use of AI in government. This is comprehensive and includes mandatory requirements for departments and agencies.
https://www.digital.gov.au/policy/ai/policy
List of state and local government AI policies and guidelines from the United States. Plenty to choose from.
https://www.govtech.com/artificial-intelligence/keeping-up-with-state-and-local-ai-policies-and-guidelines
A list of 50 ChatGPT prompts for state and local government. The prompts are designed to ‘increase efficiency, eliminate manual administrative work, and enhance day-to-day tasks using generative AI technologies like ChatGPT’.
https://www.govtech.com/artificial-intelligence/chatgpt-example-prompts-for-state-and-local-government
Benchmarking
The latest New Zealand population estimates, broken down by region and territorial authority.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/subnational-population-estimates-at-30-june-2023/
Datareportal’s annual review of how people in New Zealand use digital devices and services. There’s a lot of information here (including a 130-page PDF).
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-new-zealand
Mailchimp’s email marketing benchmarks and metrics include open rates and click rates for government.
https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/
A list of social media statistics relevant to Australia, updated monthly, and going back to 2011. https://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics/
Brand
The New Zealand government identity applies to all Public Service departments, departmental agencies, interdepartmental ventures, interdepartmental executive boards and Crown agents.
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/publications/policy-and-guidelines-new-zealand-government-identity
For an example of more comprehensive brand guidelines, check out the extensive info on the Victorian Government’s brand guidelines for using their logos, fonts, colour palette and other elements.
https://www.vic.gov.au/brand-victoria-guidelines
The Welsh government has a helpful portal for finding and accessing brand assets by theme in its Communications Media Toolkit.
https://assets.service.gov.wales/
Communications
The UK’s Government Communications Service has a lot (I mean a lot) of great advice covering pretty much everything you might want to know.
https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/
The Irish government’s Customer Communications Toolkit for the Public Service. Includes advice on written, verbal, and digital communications.
https://assets.gov.ie/27854/ba64cc4f27bf4fa1b535e4b6418f0e89.pdf
Crisis/emergency comms
Here’s the UK government’s Prepare, Respond, Recover operating model. Includes their Emergency Planning Framework.
https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/publications/crisis-communications-operating-model/
Data
The official NZ data guidance is on the government’s digital platform. Contains info on our open data policies and best-practice guidance for agencies managing how data is stored, published and used.
https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/data/
Higher level information on New Zealand’s data strategy can be read here: https://data.govt.nz/leadership/strategy-and-roadmap/
The Australian government’s strategy is here: https://www.dataanddigital.gov.au/strategy
Governance
LGNZ have a number of excellent resources, including their Good Governance Guide, which covers everything you need to know about local government and being an elected member. Also features guides around community boards, standing orders, and conduct.
https://www.lgnz.co.nz/learning-support/governance-guides/
Language
Disability language
A list of words to use and avoid from the Ministry of Social Development. Includes guidance around using language that respects disabled people as active individuals with control over their own lives.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/accessibility/quick-reference-guides/disability-language-words-matter.html
Rainbow language
A rainbow-inclusive language guide from the Public Service Commission. Includes a link to United Nations guidance on gender-inclusive language.
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/rainbow-inclusive-language-guide
And there’s a comprehensive glossary for common rainbow terms (also from the PSC) here:
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/glossary/diversity-and-inclusion
Sign Language
The New Zealand Sign Language Dictionary includes 4500+ multimedia, multilingual dictionary entries. You can keyword search in English and Māori. https://www.nzsl.nz/
Te reo Māori
Extensive collection of resources developed by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, including phrase cards, posters, tool kits, and a host of other downloadable assets.
https://www.reomaori.co.nz/resources
A guide to pronouncing the five vowels and ten consonants in the Māori alphabet. https://www.reomaori.co.nz/pronunciation
NZ History has a wonderful 100 Māori words every New Zealander should know - complete with audio for pronunciation.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/maori-language-week/100-maori-words
Other languages
The Ministry for Ethnic Communities has a comprehensive (and lovely-looking PDF) guide to translating, featuring the why, what, and how of communicating and building trust with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. https://www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz/resources/language-resource-hub/unlocking-language-barriers/
There is also a dedicated Pacific Languages Strategy 2022-2032 developed by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, which includes dedicated guidance around nine Pacific languages. https://www.mpp.govt.nz/programmes/the-pacific-languages-strategy-2022-2032/
Overseas
The Canadian government has guidance for bilingual offices and facilities. Includes a short ‘good practices checklist’.
https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/values-ethics/official-languages/public-services/bilingual-offices-facilities.html
The Welsh government has info around social media, events, exhibitions, advertising and communicating with the media. Also features a bunch of layout examples. https://www.gov.wales/welsh-language-standards-communication-and-marketing-guidelines
Media policy
The University of Auckland has guidance around commenting publicly, including to the media, covering academics, officials, experts and private individuals.
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/policy-hub/strategic-engagement/media-communications/media-public-communication-statements-policy.html
For another example see Pharmac’s media policy, which features info on roles and responsibilities. The PDF is here: https://pharmac.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Media-Policy-November-2023.pdf
Photography
Sport New Zealand has a detailed guide to photographing, filming, and use of images, with a particular emphasis on young people.
https://sportnz.org.nz/resources/media-policy/
DIA’s photo/video consent form is here (PDF): https://www.dia.govt.nz/vwluResources/DIA-Photo-Video-Consent-Form-WORD/$file/Photo-Video-Consent-Form.docx
There is also some general advice from the Privacy Commissioner around posting photos or anything else about other people on social media.
https://www.privacy.org.nz/tools/knowledge-base/view/126
Plain Language
The Parliamentary Counsel Office has a wonderfully practical Plain Language Checklist with a whole heap of useful info on everything from tenses and italics, to avoiding emotive words, jargon, and policy-speak.
https://www.pco.govt.nz/pco-plain-language-checklist/
MSD has a shorter checklist here: https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/accessibility/quick-reference-guides/checklist-for-plain-language.html
The Public Service Commission has guidance on the why and how of implementing the Plain Language Act 2022, but it is very high level stuff and basically links to a couple of agency examples for the practical part.
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/plain-language-act-2022-guidance-for-agencies
Privacy
Where better to go for an example of a privacy statement than the Privacy Commissioner’s website.
https://privacy.org.nz/about-us/transparency-and-accountability/website-privacy-statement/
The website also includes a handy Privacy Statement Generator (the Priv-o-matic) so you can quickly make your own.
https://www.privacy.org.nz/tools/privacy-statement-generator/
Signage
For NZ government buildings, there is guidance on branding, wayfinding and signage on the Government Property Group website. Includes advice around colour palettes, artwork, and furniture, as well as DeafSpace considerations and neurodiversity accessibility. https://www.gpg.govt.nz/workplace-design/branding-wayfinding-and-signage-guidelines/
Here’s the Māori-English Bilingual Signage: A guide for best practice from Te Puni Kōkiri.
https://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/nga-putea-me-nga-ratonga/te-reo-maori/tohureorua
Includes a comprehensive PDF with real-life examples of bilingual signs.
https://www.tpk.govt.nz/docs/bilingual-signage/tpk-bilingual-signage-guide.pdf
Social media dos and don’ts
The Public Service Commission has clear guidance on the dos and don’ts of social media for public servants - both in their professional capacity and in their personal life. https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/guide-he-aratohu/guidance/social-media
NZ Police released their internal social media policy online. Includes a lot of practical advice around content and moderation - particularly around employee behaviour.
https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publication/social-media-policy-police-manual-chapter
Social media policy (organisation)
MBIE’s social media terms of use are really helpful - clear, smart info on engagement, monitoring, privacy and copyright.
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/about/engage-with-us-on-social-media/
NZ Parliaments’s social media moderation policy is nice in terms of presenting the info as ‘What to expect from us’ and ‘What we expect from you’.
https://www.parliament.nz/mi/footer/website-help/social-media-moderation-policy-for-nz-parliament/
Whaikaha’s social media community guidelines include simple, clear rules around commenting, messaging, and breaches.
https://www.whaikaha.govt.nz/about-us/programmes-strategies-and-studies/guidelines/social-media-community-guidelines
And here is the Ministry of Education’s terms of use, which brings all of their info into one place, including why they choose to 'follow', 'like' or otherwise establish connections with other organisations and individuals.
https://www.education.govt.nz/social-media-terms-of-use/
Wellington City Council’s Social media House Rules are good, too. They are written in a nice no-nonsense way and get to the point. You can find them at the bottom of this page: https://wellington.govt.nz/news-and-events/news-and-information/social-media
Social media policy (individual)
A wonderful social media policy from a British MP, including extremely sensible ground rules for the channels.
https://www.selainesaxby.org.uk/social-media-policy
Social media strategy
The Social Media Playbook from the UK’s Government Communication Service is a comprehensive read. It covers content and community management, listening, evaluation, and even security.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/social-media-playbook
Step-by-step social media strategy advice from the Victorian government, includes strategy and approval templates.
https://www.vic.gov.au/use-social-media
There is also social media advice in the Australian Government Style Manual. https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/content-types/social-media
Social media from the archive
If you want to go back in time to when social media was a much simpler thing, see the Department of Internal Affairs ‘Social Media in Government: High-Level Guidance’ from 2011:
https://edu.cdhb.health.nz/News/Media-Guide/Documents/Social-Media-in-Government-High-level-Guidance-final.pdf
Or check out the Auditor General’s ‘Learning from public entities’ use of social media’ in 2013.
https://oag.parliament.nz/2013/social-media/docs/social-media.pdf
Style
The gold standard in style guides might well be the Australian Government Style Manual. It is extremely comprehensive and practical, with guidance on everything from writing and designing content, to grammar, punctuation and conventions - even referencing and attribution. https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/
There is a bunch of style information from the New Zealand government here:
https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/design-and-ux/content-design-guidance/writing-style/
And here’s a handy alphabetised list of best practice and rules for punctuation and grammar for public sector websites.
https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/design-and-ux/content-design-guidance/grammar-and-punctuation/
Web standards
The NZ Government Web Standards are the official standards that Government organisations need to meet. Includes standards for logos, contact info, copyright and privacy. Also includes self-assessment tools so you can see where you’re are.
https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/nz-government-web-standards/
Contrast checker
A simple, effective contrast checker from Utah State University. Gives a contrast ratio as well as pass/fail grades for normal text, large text, and components.
https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/
For additions or queries, email me at seamus@seamus.nz