The Briefing for the Incoming Minister can be downloaded as a PDF (Adobe Acrobat 7.0, 683KB)
The Department of Corrections exists primarily to administer the sentences and orders of the criminal courts.
On any given day Corrections manages almost 35,000 offenders serving 40,000 community sentences and orders, and around 8,000 prisoners.
The Department also provides information, reports and support to the Judiciary to assist with sentencing, and to the New Zealand Parole Board to assist with parole decisions.
The Department contributes to the wider Justice Sector’s overall outcome of a “Safe and Just Society”. This is achieved through three intermediate outcomes: “Upholding the Integrity of Sentences and Orders”, “Reducing Re-offending”, and “Offenders Managed Safely and Humanely”.
Estimated expenditure for 2008/09 is $965 million (funded by $931 million of Crown operating revenue, plus $34 million primarily from prison based industries), with assets totalling nearly $1.9 billion. As a result of a 2003 Output Pricing Review, the Department is currently funded to deliver services to an adequate (or "restore and maintain”) standard rather than “satisfactory”.
The Department achieves standards of compliance, offender safety and security, and reducing re-offending that are comparable with the best corrections systems in the world. However, in common with many other countries, meeting society’s expectations and demands has become increasingly challenging.
The Department currently faces two key challenges:
- strong growth in the community offender population
- ongoing pressure on prison capacity.
Driving these immediate challenges are some critical issues:
- growth in the community offender population has accelerated following the introduction of several new community sentences in October 2007 (the single biggest changes to community sentencing in New Zealand history).
- the Department’s Community Probation and Psychological Services have grown by 95% since 2003 - 48% of probation officers now have less than two years experience. However, numbers of requests for pre-sentence reports, and offenders on sentences continue to grow above funded levels.
- the current growth trend in prison numbers commenced in 2003 when the prison population stood at less than 6,000. Despite slowing, following the introduction of the new community sentences, the prison population currently stands at around 8,000. On existing policy and sentencing settings, the prison population is forecast to exceed 10,700 by 2016.
- current prison capacity is expected to be fully utilised by mid-2010, despite significant expansion over the last four years. This pressure is exacerbated by the need to replace some obsolete and unsafe facilities which cannot be upgraded cost-effectively.
- the over-representation of Māori is a more longstanding challenge. Māori make up almost half of the offenders the Department manages, both in the community and in prison. Reducing Māori re-offending is a major priority for the Department.
The Department has made considerable progress with the capability of its staff and systems. However overall growth in numbers of offenders to be managed, combined with large numbers of inexperienced staff (over 40 per cent of frontline staff have less than two years experience, due to extensive recruitment over the past five years), means that staff training and support remain a critical focus for attention.
It is acknowledged that further large-scale growth in the country’s justice sector poses severe fiscal and operational challenges if not restrained.
The Department will continue to work with other Justice Sector agencies on strategies to reduce crime and re-offending. However, it will also be seeking funds both for additional Probation capacity and to commence planning for further prison capacity.
Over the last five years, the Department has significantly improved service delivery and results across most areas of its activity. Examples include:
- continuing reductions in the number and rate of prisoner escapes from Corrections custody
- improved detection of contraband entering prisons, indicated by reduced numbers of positive drug tests
- increased numbers of prisoners in prison-based industries and on temporary release from prison to take up employment
- consistent evidence of reduced rates of re-offending amongst programme participants, at levels comparable with international best practice
- more prisoners involved in adult literacy and other educational courses
- successful introduction of major new community sentence options: Community Detention, Intensive Supervision, and Home Detention as a stand-alone sentence
- better systems and procedures for managing high-risk offenders in the community, including an expansion of electronic monitoring
- comprehensive re-design of rehabilitation programmes delivered by Community Probation and Psychological Services to offenders in prison and the community, including high intensity programmes delivered in Special Treatment Units
- expansion of rehabilitation activities with proven effectiveness (including doubling the number of intensive drug and alcohol programmes)
- increase in the number of community programmes for sex offenders and domestic violence offenders
- an improved prisoner transportation system that ensures greater safety and security of prisoners
- establishment of a National Health Service for prisoners, providing health services consistent with Ministry of Health standards
- improvements in cross-agency services such as health and preparation for release from prison
- improvements in information sharing and working with Police on the management of high risk parolees in the community.
