Central Government agencies are working together under the leadership of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) on a multi-year work programme. Four key deliverables will be developed and implemented through the project:
a Language Assistance Services Policy and Guidelines to set out best practice in the planning, funding and delivery of public services for people with limited English language proficiency
a new procurement model to make purchasing language assistance services by central government agencies and their contracted providers simpler, more efficient, and more cost-effective
professional standards and associated certification framework for interpreters and translators working across government
a Language Assistance Services Portal and other systems to support the new model to provide simple access to a single depository of information about language assistance services in New Zealand.
Three workstreams have been established to advance this project. Their approach is discussed below. The workstreams were completed by the end of 2017 and the results drawn together for consideration by Cabinet by early 2018.