Phone calls

Telephones are located in the common area of each unit. People in prison may have up to 10 phone numbers (mobile or landline) approved at any one time.

All phone calls can be monitored. This means that calls are recorded and can be listened to by staff.

Once a person in prison has requested to have the number approved, staff will complete checks to make sure the call recipient is willing to receive calls from within the prison. If the call recipient is a protected person with a protection order the call recipient must contact the prison if they want to have contact with the person in prison. Prison staff will not contact a call recipient if they are the protected person. The number is then made available for the person to call.

Our phone system no longer uses phone cards as prisoner phone calls are now free.

If you have been providing phonecards to someone in prison, there is no longer a need to do this. Personal 0800 numbers are no longer accepted. If you are paying for an 0800 service for someone in prison please cancel the service, as calls are free for people in prison.

There is a 30 minute per week limit for international calls. People in prison can request more minutes in the event of exceptional circumstances, for example a bereavement or family emergency. Requests must be approved by the Prison Director.

Cellphones

Cellphones are not allowed in prison as they are unauthorised items.

Contacting a person urgently

To contact a person in prison urgently, call the prison and they can ask the prisoner to call back.

Phone calls from people in prison

People in prison are allowed up to 10 approved phone numbers to make calls.

They can’t call unless the person the number belongs to gives their permission.

We check that the person wants to receive phone calls from the prison. We understand this can change for various reasons.

If you are receiving unwanted phone calls from someone in prison, please let us know.

How to stop calls

You can phone the prison directly (find details on Our locations page).

If you are not sure which prison the person is now in, you can email info@corrections.govt.nz. Please include details of the person you don’t want calls from, and your phone number so we can take it off their list.