Your right to make a complaint
Corrections aims to carry out its duties fairly and professionally. But if you have an issue or concern with any aspect of our work, you have the right to make a complaint.

How to make a complaint
If you have a complaint, talk to a community probation staff member. You can also talk to your probation officer (if you have one), or their manager. They will do their best to deal with your complaint fairly, professionally and confidentially. They may need to involve their manager or other staff. If your complaint cannot be addressed in this way, you can choose to make a formal complaint.

Making a formal complaint
A formal complaint will be passed to a community probation district manager. They will investigate your complaint further, and may involve other staff or more senior management if necessary. You will be kept updated throughout the process of dealing with your complaint.

You can make a formal complaint directly to Corrections by:

• completing and signing a Complaints Form (available from your local community probation office or your probation officer)
• sending a signed letter, or an email, to your local community probation office that outlines your complaint in detail
• talking to a community probation staff member, who will record your complaint for you to sign
• sending a signed letter of complaint to a regional manager or the Corrections Services general manager (contact your local community probation office for contact details)
• writing directly to the Inspector of Corrections.

Your complaint will then be sent to the local community probation district manager.

What happens next
Once the area manager receives your complaint, they will:

• write to you to say that your complaint has been received
• register your complaint in a database
• start a fact-finding process to see if further investigation or action is warranted.

You will be contacted regularly throughout the process of dealing with your complaint, and told about the outcome of the investigation. You may also be contacted for more information during the investigation.

You can contact the Inspector of Corrections at any time during the complaints process:

Inspector of Corrections
The Senior Inspector
Department of Corrections
Private Box 1206, Wellington

Freephone: 0800 225 697

What you can do if you are not satisfied with the outcome
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint investigation, you have the right to raise your concerns with the Ombudsman:

Office of the Ombudsman
PO Box 10152
Wellington

Freephone: 0800 802 602
Website: www.ombudsmen.parliament.nz

The Ombudsman will ask you if you have first tried to resolve your issue with us directly. They may look into your complaint and may make a recommendation to us regarding the issue you raised.

To get help or more information
If you need help at any time with any aspect of the complaints process, or if you need more information, you can talk to a community probation staff member.

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