their families to learn sign language from
and, in part, the Act’s provisions “restore or
the time of diagnosis.14 Norway, Finland
compensate for losses”.17
and Uganda are among other nations that
have recognised sign language as a rightful
The purpose of the NZSL Bill was
first language of deaf children. They have
to remedy the fact that “deaf New
provided substantial government resources
Zealanders have not been afforded the
for parent and child education in sign
same right to their language as other New
language from an early age.15
Zealanders”. They have suffered serious
disadvantage as a result.18 These proposals
1.6 New Zealand’s official
languages
were motivated both by disability rights
principles of inclusion (such as the NZ
Disability Strategy) and by language rights
principles that recognise deaf people’s
New Zealand has two official languages, te
language and culture.
reo Māori and NZSL. However, English is a
“de facto” third official language by virtue
Parliamentary debates during the Bill’s
of its widespread use.
passage through Parliament highlighted
its potential to reduce the social exclusion
Te reo Māori became an official language in
of NZSL users and improve deaf people’s
1987. NZSL was made an official language
educational and employment prospects.19
of New Zealand in April 2006. It is one of
nine sign languages internationally to be
recognised in law. However, there is no
1.6.1 NZ Sign Language Act
clarification in New Zealand law about
The New Zealand Sign Language Act was
what it means to be an official language.
the result of over twenty years of lobbying
No such information is found in either the
by the deaf community for recognition
NZSL Act or the Māori Language Act 1987
of their language. It was promoted in
(MLA).
Parliament by the then Minister for
Disability Issues, Ruth Dyson. She had
In 1986, the Waitangi Tribunal published its
affiliations with the deaf community as
comprehensive report on the te reo Māori
patron of the Deaf Society of Canterbury
claim.16 It found that te reo was a taonga
and through her involvement with the
guaranteed protection under article 2 of the
Van Asch Deaf Education Centre located
Treaty of Waitangi and that the Crown had
within her electorate.
significant responsibilities for protecting
and promoting the language. The MLA was
Section 3 of the NZSL Act sets out the
a response to the Waitangi Tribunal’s report
purpose of the legislation, namely “to
22