Make a complaint

Anyone who interacts with Corrections can complain about their experiences. A person who complains is called a “complainant”.

Complainants can be people we manage, victims of crime, or other members of the public.

If you are a victim of crime, you can find more resources and information on our Information for Victims   page.

We can investigate complaints about:

• how staff treated or spoke to you
• health care or disability support provided in prison
• discrimination, human rights concerns, or personal safety issues
• how Corrections used or shared personal information
• delays in communication or unclear information
• problems with the Victim Notification Register (VNR)
• unwanted mail from someone in prison
• Corrections’ policies or procedures.

We cannot investigate or change:

• decisions made by a Judge or the New Zealand Parole Board, including decisions about sentencing and released
• decisions made by other agencies, such as New Zealand Police, Ministry of Justice, or Health New Zealand
• private matters that do not involve Corrections.

If you are unsure:

• If you have questions or need clarification on whether Corrections can help you please email: info@corrections.govt.nz with your question.
• Quick Guide for Complainants PDF, 233.1 KB

A complainant can choose someone to give help, advice, and support when making a complaint. This person is called an advocate.

An advocate can help before, during, or after a complaint is made.
Useful documents for advocates:

• Quick Guide for Complaint Advocates PDF, 251.2 KB
• Authority for a Complaint Advocate form PDF, 241.7 KB (Use this form to make someone an advocate when making a complaint)

Who can be an advocate

Many people can be an advocate including a:

• friend
• whānau/family member
• support person
• kaumatua, Kaiwhakamana or Fautua Pasefika
• spiritual adviser.

You cannot be a complaint advocate without written permission from the complainant .

Becoming a complaint advocate

A complainant can choose an advocate at any time when making a complaint.  The complainant needs to give written permission so Corrections staff can share information with the advocate.

Complainants can give permission at any time using this form:
Authority for a Complaint Advocate form PDF, 241.7 KB

If a complainant wants help but has difficulty with the form then our staff can help with this. If you are not sure who to contact for help, email us at info@corrections.govt.nz.

When a complainant has an advocate, both the complainant and the advocate will be kept up to date about the complaint.

If the complainant cancels or changes an advocate’s permission

If a complainant changes or cancels their advocate’s permission, Corrections staff will stop sharing information with the advocate straight away.

Helping someone with their complaint

An advocate can help complainants by:

• giving them information to support their complaint
• supporting them to represent themselves
• speaking for them if they ask
• help them access information they need about their complaint.

An advocate should:

• be aware and respectful of the complainant’s feelings
• work respectfully with Corrections staff
• stop being an advocate if they cannot continue or it is too difficult (such as not feeling confident or finding it too distressing)

An advocate’s privacy and personal information responsibilities

If you have access to another person’s personal information, it is important to understand the rules in the Privacy Act 2020 for collecting, managing and storing their personal information.

It is illegal to pretend to act on behalf of someone without their permission, to access to their personal information, or to have it changed or destroyed.

More information is available on The Office of the Privacy Commissioner(external link) website.

If the complainant is in prison

An advocate may communicate by letter , email, phone, video link (AVL), or prison visit.

Advocates will need separate approval to visit or phone the complainant.

Staff can help you with these processes. If you are not sure who to contact for help, email us at info@corrections.govt.nz.

If an advocate is not granted one form of contact (e.g., a prison visit), they will need to use another form of contact where they have permission (e.g., phone). Find out how to contact a person in prison.

To help resolve complaints faster, we recommend contacting staff and the complainant as soon as possible.

Legal

• You can get free independent advice from community law centres (external link)

• Citizens Advice Bureau(external link) provides free information and advice.

Health and Disabilities

• For health and disability support you can contact the  Nationwide Health and Disability Advocacy Service(external link).

• For free 24/7 confidential support when you are feeling stressed or need someone to talk to you can call 1737 or visit: 1737 Digital Hub(external link).

• New Zealand Relay(external link) can connect people who are Deaf, hard of hearing, have communication difficulties, and deafblind to different services over the phone.

Victim Support Services

• Victim Support (external link) provides free and confidential support for victims of crime - you can call 0800 842 846 to speak to someone.

• Victims Information (external link) provides free and confidential support and information for victims including information on making a complaint.

Survivors of historical abuse and neglect in State care can make a redress claim. You can make a redress claim to Corrections if you:

• were placed in a youth penal institution operated by the former Department of Justice, which includes borstals, corrective training institutions, detention centres and youth prisons (also sometimes known as youth institutions)
• allege that you were physically, sexually, emotionally, psychologically abused and/or neglected, and believe that the experience harmed you in some way.

For more information: https://www.redress.govt.nz/make-a-new-redress-claim(external link)

You can make a complaint about Community Corrections to a Community Corrections staff member

Informal complaint process

An informal complaint means talking to staff, usually a probation officer, to try and resolve the problem. They may need to involve their manager or other staff.

Formal complaint process

A formal complaint means making a complaint in writing - this will be given to a service manager.

A formal complaint can be made by:

• using the Make a complaint form
• completing and signing a Community Corrections complaints form PDF, 1.0 MB
• sending a signed letter, or an email, to the local Community Corrections site that outlines the complaint in detail

• talking to a Community Corrections staff member who will support you to raise a formal complaint.

Each site’s contact details are available on Our locations page. You can filter the list by "Community Corrections”.

When a service manager receives a complaint, they will:

• write back to say the complaint is received
• add the complaint into a database
• investigate the complaint
• involve other staff or more senior management if necessary
• keep the complainant updated and may ask for more information during the investigation.

You can make complaints about prisons to unit staff or directly to prison management.

Informal complaint process

An informal complaint means talking to staff, usually a corrections officer, to try and resolve the problem. They may need to involve their manager or other staff.

Formal complaint process

A formal complaint can be made using:

• the Make a complaint form
• the Prisoner Complaint process (for people in prison only).  You can find out more about the PC.01 process.

Anyone else can make a complaint about prisons by contacting the prison’s management. You can find contact details for each prison on Our locations page.

If you are a victim of crime, you can make a complaint using the Make a complaint form.

If you are registered on the Victim Notification Register (VNR) you can also complain:

by post:

Victim Information Manager
Department of Corrections
PO Box 1206
Wellington 6140

by email:

victim.complaints@corrections.govt.nz

The Victim Information Manager will:

• acknowledge the complaint
• share the complaint to the relevant services for investigation.

If you have any concerns about how we have handled your request for official or personal information, please contact us.

Your concerns may relate to us:

• refusing or declining  your request for information
• not replying within legislative time frames putting conditions on what information can be shared.

You can contact us:

• by the Make a complaint form
• by email: info@corrections.govt.nz
• or by post:

Ministerial Services
Department of Corrections
PO Box 1206
Wellington 6140

Read more about our official information policy and procedures, and our privacy policy .

If you have received unwanted mail from someone in prison and have a question or complaint you can:

• use the Make a complaint form (recommended option)
• call 0800 345 006
• email mailcomplaints@corrections.govt.nz

The 0800 number is staffed Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) but voice messages can be left at any time and staff will respond.