performance and achieve the following five outcomes:
Staff performance has been a key area of work for me and my senior management team during my past three years with Corrections. Prime examples of this are the Patten Report and Rimutaka Improvement Project which were designed to specifically address alleged corruption at Rimutaka Prison.
The two worked in tandem enabling the Department to conduct a thorough investigation while moving forward the effort to improve cultural and management problems known to exist.
It's fair to say that public interest in the Patten Report and Rimutaka Improvement Project was high, and rightly so.
It's also fair to say that a lot of equally valuable work goes on behind the scenes to ensure that corruption and performance issues are not one-off concerns but rather, areas of our work that we manage carefully 365 days of the year. Staff at all levels within the organisation have a role to play in this.
Helping us do this is the Inspectorate, Internal Audit and the more recently established Professional Standards Unit (PSU).
Inspectorate staff identify and address unfair treatment of prisoners through routine visits and management of complaints received from prisoners and families - vital work in helping us meet our obligation to provide safe, fair and human containment of prisoners.
Their regular, 10-week inspections of all 20 prison sites are equally valuable in ensuring that our staff meet their obligations in terms of the processes, procedures and policies we have in place.
Internal Audit independently reviews and appraises the efficiency, economy and effectiveness of departmental systems and outputs - including policies, practices, programmes, operations, controls and activities - by offering constructive and timely advice, and promoting and monitoring departmental self-review, risk management and compliance programmes.
The PSU promotes a shared understanding of the importance of integrity in our organisation, ensures that all allegations of corruption or unlawful behaviour are investigated thoroughly and professionally and, determines why such behaviour has occurred and how it can be prevented in the future.
I am confident that all three units are having a positive impact on our organisation which is mindful at all times of the need to meet public and government expectations.
With my contract recently renewed for a further three years, I look forward to taking on new challenges and working closely with my senior management team who like myself, are focused on achieving the outcomes we’ve set ourselves.
On a different note, it was a pleasure to attend the opening of the Karaka Special Treatment Unit (STU) at Waikeria Prison on February 27 - the first of three STUs being opened nationwide to provide intensive rehabilitation to prisoners assessed as high risk.
Research conducted internationally and in New Zealand has shown that offenders nearing the end of their sentences are less likely to re-offend if they attend intensive rehabilitation programmes designed to help them change their behaviour.
This is achieved by providing a confidential and open forum in which they can learn the skills needed for living a more positive lifestyle.
The Puna Tatari Special Treatment Unit will open at Spring Hill Corrections Facility in June this year and the other STU will open at Christchurch Prison in 2009. These are further examples of our commitment to reduce re-offending and help offenders turn their lives around.
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ISSN 1178-8453