Celebrating NZSL Week 2025: A Year of Visibility, Collaboration, and Growth
This year has been one of growth, visibility, and preparation as Deaf Aotearoa looks ahead to the 20-year anniversary of NZSL’s recognition as an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand. Deaf leadership has remained central to national campaigns, partnerships, and community engagement, with NZSL increasingly embedded in public life through collaboration, creativity, and community ownership.
NZSL Week 2025
NZSL Week 2025, held from 5–11 May, carried the theme An Aotearoa Where Anyone Can Sign, Anywhere, reaching schools, workplaces, Parliament, and communities nationwide. A Parliamentary Breakfast at the Beehive brought together ministers, MPs, Māori partners, Deaf leaders, and media, reinforcing the political and cultural commitment to NZSL.
We began the celebrations with an opening karakia led by Mohi Apou (Ngā Rauru Kītahi, Taranaki, Whanganui Iwi), setting a grounded and meaningful start to the week. Media coverage spanned TVNZ Breakfast, NZ Herald, Stuff, The Press, and Te Ao Māori News, while large-scale billboards and a national radio campaign extended reach further.
Influencers and ambassadors, including NZSL Hero Rosie Solouota, past Hero Jon Tai-Rakena, Brad Watson and Kim Harkness, and parenting influencer Maria Foy, helped connect with new audiences, showing how NZSL strengthens whānau connection and cultural awareness. The Ministry of Education interviewed Rosie for their Education Gazette and Matavi e-newsletter, sharing her story as a Deaf Pasifika.
Partnerships and Collaborations
Partnerships and collaborations remained at the heart of NZSL promotion. Deaf Aotearoa supported Te Papa Tongarewa by promoting their NZSL-accessible Matariki events, attracting over 15,000 online views. Our role was to amplify visibility and strengthen relationships, ensuring NZSL access was celebrated as a normal part of cultural programming.
Collaboration with Whakaata Māori grew, with shared content and support across platforms following hui with Deaf and Māori cultural leads. Work with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori deepened through joint campaign support and the development of a cultural competency presentation for public servants, presented by Deaf and Turi Māori leaders.
Engagement and collaborations with NZ Cancer Society (Daffodil Day 2024), Mental Health Foundation (for Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 and Pink Shirt Day 2025), Air NZ, Ara Taiohi, and Special Gifts, to name a few, continue to open opportunities and further integrate NZSL across health, arts, and community sectors.
Creative partnerships also flourished. Garage Project entered its seventh year of collaboration, with Deaf artist Ryan Cassidy (also current Executive Board Chair) designing NZSL Week artwork and planning underway for a special 20-year anniversary edition.
Music with Michal released NZSL-integrated children’s music videos (Full of Colour and ABC) alongside our Deaf Cultural Lead, reaching tens of thousands of tamariki and whānau, and captioned her full song library.
These partnerships, alongside community-led content, show that NZSL promotion is now a shared endeavour across government, cultural institutions, businesses, and families, with Deaf Aotearoa acting as connector, advisor, and amplifier.
Digital Engagement
Digital engagement surged. A new YouTube channel was launched to centralise NZSL resources, while combined reach across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn grew rapidly, reaching nearly 150,000 people in the first quarter of 2025 and more than 480,000 in the second, peaking during NZSL Week. This represents a 220 per cent increase from the same period last year, showing exponential growth in NZSL engagement.
Short-form series such as That Sign What?, NZSL Facts, and Deaf Quotes kept audiences engaged year-round. The refreshed nzsignlanguage.nz website became a hub for evergreen resources and featured a live #NZSL feed, showcasing community-generated content and highlighting the scale of public participation.
Media and Storytelling
Media and storytelling remained vital. From Deaf tamariki teaching signs on What Now to human-interest features in major newspapers, NZSL was presented as a language for everyone. The Kōrero with Jon podcast offered space for deeper conversations, complementing short-form videos with longer storytelling. This integration of mainstream media, influencer-led campaigns, and community content reflects NZSL’s growing presence in everyday life.
Resources and Education
Resources and education were a strong focus. The Let’s Talk booklets were updated, reprinted, and distributed nationwide, with 7,900 copies reaching schools, workplaces, and community organisations.
Development began on new 25 Signs booklets focused on Te Reo Māori concepts and Pasifika concepts, led by Rosie, Jon, and cultural leads, with a launch planned for 2026. Feedback has been affirming, with comments such as:
“The new website and resources look really great this year…”
“The online resources from Deaf Aotearoa have been absolutely life-changing.”
Outcomes and Challenges
NZSL is more visible than ever, with Deaf leadership at the centre of campaigns, events, and partnerships. Cross-agency collaboration has deepened, particularly with Māori organisations, while public participation has accelerated the mainstreaming of NZSL. Community ownership is now evident across Aotearoa, from classrooms to online platforms.
Funding pressures required creativity and collaboration to deliver national campaigns at scale. Rising demand from schools, workplaces, and councils stretched capacity, and the sheer volume of community-led content made it impossible to capture everything, a challenge that reflects both the success and complexity of growing public ownership.
Looking Ahead
As we move into 2025/2026, attention turns to the 20-year anniversary of NZSL’s official recognition. This milestone will be marked by a powerful NZSL Week campaign and the NZSL Awards Night at Te Papa in May 2026, celebrating the leaders, allies, and organisations who have shaped NZSL’s journey. We are excited to co-host this event with Te Papa. Sustaining Deaf-led delivery through philanthropic, government, and sector partnerships will be critical, as will strengthening Turi Māori leadership to ensure kaupapa Māori remains at the heart of this work.
Closing Reflections
This has been a year of momentum and pride. NZSL is no longer confined to a campaign window but is increasingly part of everyday life. With the 20-year milestone ahead, the foundations are strong for NZSL’s visibility and vitality to continue to grow.
