Invercargill Prison can accommodate a maximum of 180 male prisoners with a security classification ranging from minimum to low-medium. The prison also accommodates remand prisoners.
Built in 1910, the prison operated as a borstal until 1981. It housed the South Island Corrective Training Unit until 1987.
The prison is part of Prison Services' Southern Region and employs 75 custodial staff.
|
Contact details: Postal Address Physical address Useful links |
Further information
Security
Reducing re-offending
Motivational programmes
Rehabilitation programmes
Prisoner employment
Education
Reintegration
Working with the community
Security
Protecting the public is the Department’s highest priority and this is accomplished through the secure incarceration of prisoners.
The level of physical security at each prison varies and is dependant on the type of prisoner accommodated.
Because Invercargill Prison accommodates prisoners with a medium security classification who have been assessed as being a moderate risk to the public, the level of physical security is higher than would be found at some prisons.
The Prison is surrounded by a highly secure electric perimeter fence and a mesh fence topped with razor wire to prevent it being climbed.
The area immediately surrounding the perimeter fence is equipped with surveillance and detection equipment.
Invercargill Prison also has a single point of entry.
Everyone entering the prison, including staff, must pass through a scanner. This prevents contraband being smuggled into the prison.
In addition, electronic security devices and cameras, closed circuit TV, video motion detectors and microwave sensors are used throughout the prison.
Reducing re-offending
Reducing re-offending is critical if the Department is to meet its overriding objective of improving public safety.
Reducing re-offending means fewer offenders commit crime after completing their sentence - resulting in fewer victims, a reduction in the cost of crime and safer communities.
Invercargill Prison provides prisoners with a range of programmes and interventions that are designed to address the primary causes of their offending and prepare them for release.
The most intensive interventions are targeted at prisoners who are assessed as having a high risk of re-offending, that have severe needs that caused their offending and are motivated to make constructive changes in their lives.
Every prisoner entering Invercargill Prison receives a sentence plan which they are required to comply with.
The focus of the sentence plan is on reducing the risk of them re-offending on release and is developed following an assessment of a prisoner’s risk, needs and motivation.
This ensures they are placed on the most appropriate and timely programmes and interventions to address the underlying causes of their offending.
Programmes and interventions provided at Invercargill Prison fall into four main categories: motivational, rehabilitative, employment and education, and reintegrative.
Motivational programmes
Motivational programmes are designed to increase motivation and to encourage and prepare prisoners to confront the causes of their offending.
The primary motivational programme used at Invercargill Prison is the Tikanga Maori Programme.
Tikanga Maori programmes use Maori philosophy, values, knowledge and practice to help prisoners increase their understanding of their Maori identity and their values, and improve their self-esteem to help them become motivated to address the causes of their offending.
Prisoners at Invercargill Prison are also offered, as part of their sentence planning, the opportunity to undertake the Short Motivational Programme.
Prisoners undertaking this programme are transferred to the Otago Corrections Facility to do so.
Rehabilitation programmes
Rehabilitation programmes aim to reduce re-offending by helping prisoners address the causes of their offending and teach them to identify, analyse and solve problems and make decisions to better their lives.
Prisoners also learn how to understand the consequences of their actions and gain control over their own behaviour.
Prisoners at Invercargill Prison are able to undertake the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme and the Short Rehabilitation Programme as part of their sentence plan.
Prisoners are transferred to the Otago Corrections Facility to undertake these programmes.
Prisoner employment
Prisoner employment, managed by Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE), plays an integral part in the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners as it provides prisoners with essential work skills and habits.
The last prison census in 2003 found that over half of all prisoners were not in paid employment prior to sentencing.
Prisoner employment increases the chance a prisoner will find sustainable work on release and research shows this will result in a decreased number of prisoners being reconvicted.
Invercargill Prison offers two main types of employment:
Prisoners are able to earn credits under the National Qualification Framework, allowing them to work towards qualifications whilst they are engaged in employment and training.
Minimum security prisoners who are nearing release may also be eligible to participate in Release to Work.
Release to Work is a form of temporary release that allows prisoners to be in paid work in the community during the day.
It provides prisoners with a stable work record and the job is often carried on after a prisoner’s release from prison.
Education
There is a strong relationship between a lack of education and criminal behaviour.
At the time of the last prison census in 2003, 51.7 per cent of all prisoners had no formal qualifications.
Educational achievement and participation can equip prisoners for self-sufficiency and reduce the barriers to living an offence-free life.
A prisoner can enrol in any subject or education programme they consider themselves capable of achieving.
There are three types of education offered to prisoners at Invercargill Prison:
In addition, computer and hobby classes are also available.
Reintegration
Reintegration programmes address problems likely to increase a prisoners’ risk of re-offending on release.
Being imprisoned can have significant social consequences for a prisoner.
They are likely to have lost their job and accommodation, they are unlikely to be able to support their families and their relationships can be adversely affected in other ways.
Combined, this can lead offenders into a cycle of institutionalisation.
Invercargill Prison provides one main reintegrative programme:
Reintegration case-workers also work with high-need prisoners at Invercargill Prison to address their specific reintegrative needs and help them prepare for release in the community.
The Ministry of Social Development have Work and Income work brokers and case managers permanently based at Invercargill Prison to help prisoners nearing release to find suitable work before they are released.
Prisoners who find sustainable employment on release are less likely to re-offend.
Working with the community
The community has an important role to play in the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners back into the community by supporting and encouraging prisoners to live an offence free life.
Many sectors of the community are involved in rehabilitating offenders and helping them reintegrate back into the community.
Invercargill Prison has a special relationship with the local Maori community and has an advisory group - Murihiku Advisers Komiti - who meet with prison staff on a regular basis to discuss issues around protocols for Maori prisoners.
Invercargill Prison also works with a number of support agencies, including New Zealand Prisoner’s Aid and Rehabilitation Society (NZPARS), Prison Fellowship and the Salvation Army to support the successful reintegration of prisoners back into the community.
A large number of people also regularly donate their time, energy and expertise as volunteers with Invercargill Prison.
Volunteers provide invaluable support for prisoners and their families and give prisoners the opportunity to spend their free time constructively through music, art and sport.