Password had its beginnings in 1976 when a group of English teachers met and discussed the need for a newspaper/magazine in New Zealand like those they had seen while they were teaching overseas.

A founding committee was established, the name 'Password' was decided on and the first issue Vol. 1 No 1 came out in April 1977. There were only three issues that year.

In 1978 four issues were published along with the first issue of Teachers' Centrepage , (the Teachers' Resource ).

In 1981 some of the best articles from the first five years were published in book form under the title Best of Password. There have been six more Best of Passwords since then. 

In 1997 the format was changed to the A4 booklet format that exists today. 

Many people have worked for Password over the years - mostly on a volunteer basis. The list of volunteers – writers, administrators, and others – includes many of the trail blazers on the Auckland ESOL/EFL teaching scene over the years. Illustrations from the first issue to the present day have been done by art students and recent graduates. They, too, have made a valuable contribution. 

Password now has a distribution of about 2000 copies. It goes all over NZ and overseas.