Double bunking in prisons

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Corrections takes its duty to safely manage individuals in custody extremely seriously. Double bunking has been a long-standing practice in the New Zealand prison system and is a common practice internationally.

Corrections has a range of policies, processes, and tools in place to identify and mitigate safety concerns about double bunking. This includes the use of the Shared Accommodation Cell Risk Assessment (SACRA) to support decision-making about whether a prisoner is suitable to share a cell.

The SACRA tool identifies key risk factors to consider before placing a person in a shared cell. The assessment captures a range of information about the person, including their age, security classification, offending history, history of imprisonment, gang affiliation, notable physical characteristics, mental health concerns and any other special needs.

To ensure our processes relating to double bunking in prisons are robust and as safe as possible, we are currently completing a review of the SACRA process.

While the review is underway, we have implemented a number of changes to ensure the safety and compatibility of individuals sharing a cell, including requirements for:

  • an initial SACRA to be reviewed if further information is provided that was not available at the time the initial assessment was completed.
  • prison staff to immediately consider the suitability of a prisoner to be double bunked or their compatibility with an individual if they are already sharing a cell, when a review of a prisoner’s risk of self-harm status is completed, due to concerning behaviour or attitude.

If a person is deemed not suitable to double bunk, a NTDB (Not to Double Bunk) alert is activated on their IOMS (Integrated Offender Management System) profile. The NTDB alert includes the reason/s why the person is not suitable for shared cell accommodation and a person assessed as not suitable to be double bunked will be placed in a single accommodation cell.

Data set for double bunking – national and by prison

Quarterly double bunking statistics are available below. Data provided for the current financial year is as at 31 December 2025, and is subject to change until the full-year process has been completed.

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