The power of plain language and content design

How Health New Zealand is transforming health information

Plain language isn’t just good writing—it’s a health equity tool.

In this session, Briony from Health New Zealand shares how content design and plain language are transforming health information. We’ll explore why this work matters, the challenges and wins along the way, what we’ve achieved over the past few years, and where we’re heading next.

Briony Willing is a Principal Digital Communications Advisor at Health New Zealand. She is one of the driving forces behind the most complex and widely used health websites in Aotearoa.

Making digital content clearer, kinder, and easier for people to use is what Briony is all about. She’s spent more than a decade helping teams across government do exactly that.

Briony is a plain‑language nerd in the best possible way. So much so that in 2025, she and her team won the Plain Language Award for Best Public Sector Website.