Kia ora koutou,

The Superdiversity Institute is running a workshop for NZSL users on developing online guidance for government departments on the NZSL Act 2006 in Auckland on Tuesday 16 March 2021 and Wellington on Thursday 18 March 2021.

The NZSL Act sets out principles to guide government departments:

1. The Deaf community should be consulted on matters relating to NZSL;
2. NZSL should be used in the promotion of government services and provision of information; and
3. Government services should be made accessible to the Deaf community, including through the use of NZSL.

The Office for Disability Issues has contracted the Superdiversity Institute to develop online guidance for government departments on what this means in practice.

We want to hear from NZSL users about best practice, issues and challenges in:

• Consultation processes;
• Using NZSL to promote government services;
• Using NZSL to make government information available.
• Making government services accessible to the Deaf community.

What has worked well? What hasn’t worked so well? What do Government Departments need to know about using NZSL and making their services accessible to the Deaf community?

We are running two workshops, one in Auckland and one in Wellington.

Auckland:                                         
Jubilee Building: Parnell               
Tuesday 16 March 2021                 
10am-2pm   

Wellington:
Level 3, 11 Vivian Street, Te Aro
Thursday 18 March 2021
10am-2pm

Refreshments and a light lunch will be provided.

Register for Auckland here.
Register for Wellington here.

Ngā mihi,                                                                                   
Mai Chen, Antonia Di Maio and Anthony Hill

Date: Tuesday 20 April 2021
Time: 1200 New Zealand Time
Registration fees: Free
Topic: NZ Asian Lawyers and the New Zealand Law Society working together in the future.

Arti Chand is the Vice President (Wellington) of the New Zealand Law Society and has had a long involvement with the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Law Society, most recently as their Vice President.

She is an experienced tax lawyer who set up her sole practice, Arti Chand Tax Law, in 2015 after more than a decade in the private sector.  She provides domestic and international tax consulting advice to SMEs, not for profits, law firms and high net worth individuals.

In addition, Arti is:

1. An executive committee member of the New Zealand Fiji Business Council; and
2. The 2018 Winner of the Pasifika Woman Business Owner Award (Pasifika Business Network).

Arti is of Fijian-Indian descent and grew up in Fiji.  She is a strong advocate of celebrating the success of Pacific people and businesses in New Zealand.

Arti will speak about the ways in which NZ Asian Lawyers and the Law Society can work together in the future, including:

1. Encouraging members of NZ Asian Lawyers and lawyers of Asian ethnicity (who are not members), to be actively involved in the Law Society, for example through applying to be a volunteer on branch and section committees, standards and practice approval committees and law reform committees;
2. Encouraging consideration of the judiciary as a career pathway;
3. Promoting training sessions in advocacy and legal writing;
4. Sharing the issues and challenges faced by the Asian community with the wider profession, so that they can better understand their Asian colleagues and Asian clients; and
5. Collaborating with the New Zealand Law Society to assist members of the public who are not proficient in English to understand the complaints processes.

Register for Arti Chand’s session here.

Date: Wednesday 14 April 2021
Time: 0830 New Zealand Time
Registration fees: Free
Topic: Superdiversity in legal education and in her legal career.

Professor Mindy Chen-Wishart is the Dean of Oxford University Law School and a Professor of the Law of the Law of Contract at Oxford University. She is also a Fellow in Law at Merton College.  

Professor Chen-Wishart was formerly a Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago University and a Rhodes Visiting Research Fellow at St. Hilda’s College. She has taught Contract, Restitution, Torts and Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Consumer Protection Law and Introduction to Law.

She is the author of Contract Law (6th ed), an Editor of Chitty on Contracts (33^rd ed), and is leading a six-book project on the Contract Laws of Asia, three have been published.

She holds a fractional Professorship at the National University of Singapore and a Visiting Professorship at Hong Kong University. She has also taught at Law Schools in Germany, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Taiwan. She is author of Contract Law (6th ed), and of numerous articles on the theory, doctrine and comparative law of contract for which she has won an international prize. She is an Editor of Chitty on Contracts (now 33^rd ed), and of the six-book series on Studies in the Contract Laws of Asia, of which three have been published. Professor Chen-Wishart was a member of the Advisory Group on A Restatement of the English Law of Contract, and has lectured to the Judicial College of England and Wales, and the judiciary in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Professor Chen-Wishart was born in Taiwan and immigrated to New Zealand when she was 10 years of age. 

Professor Chen-Wishart will speak on superdiversity and legal education and in her legal career.

Register for Professor Chen Wishart’s session here.