Additional statutory reporting requirements

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The Department of Corrections is required to provide additional reporting at the end of each financial year under the Corrections Act 2004 and the Parole Act 2002.

Section 190 of the Corrections Act 2004

Section 190 prescribes particular requirements that must be reported on in the Department’s Annual Report. The requirements cover:

Section 190(1)(a) – a report on how the Chief Executive has carried out his functions under section 8(1)(k) and Prison Managers have carried out their functions under section 12(d), of ensuring that processes are established and maintained to identify communities significantly affected by policies and practices in the corrections system, and giving opportunities for those communities to give their views on those policies and practices, and ensuring those views are taken into account.

Section 190(1)(b) – a report on the work undertaken by the inspectors of Corrections, including statistical information about the disposition of complaints made by people under control or supervision and comment on issues arising from complaints or visits.

Section 190(1)(c)(d)(e) – a report on the processes and systems in place to supervise and control the monitoring of prisoner phone calls, including statistics on the proportion of prisoner calls monitored (otherwise than merely by being recorded) and the number and percentage of calls disclosed under section 117(1) and (2):

  • to any person other than an employee of the Chief Executive or a contractor
  • to an employee of the Chief Executive or a contractor, and
  • of those disclosed, the number of proceedings against a person for a disciplinary offence in which a recording of any of those calls was used in evidence.

Legislative authority for the Department to monitor prisoners’ telephone calls is provided under section 113 of the Corrections Act 2004.

Section 190(1)(f) – a report on measures to reduce drug and alcohol use by prisoners and the effectiveness of those measures, random-testing programmes and the results of those programmes.

Section 190(1)(g) – a report on the operation of every security contract in force for the whole, or any part, of the year to which the Annual Report relates, including:

  • a summary of reports forwarded to the Chief Executive under section 171(2) or (3) and
  • a summary of reports made to the Chief Executive under section 172(2)(b)
  • a summary of actions taken in relation to the operation of security contracts as a result of matters raised in any report forwarded or made.

Section 190(1)(h) – a report on the operation of every contract prison in operation in whole or in part in the year, including:

  • a summary of reports forwarded to the Chief Executive under section 199D(2) and (3)
  • a summary of reports made to the Chief Executive under section 199E(3)(b)
  • a summary of actions taken in relation to the management of contract prisons as a result of matters raised in any report forwarded or made.

With regard to the report required under section 190(1)(b) above, the Corrections Inspectors are appointed under the provisions of section 28 of the Corrections Act 2004 and perform a dedicated complaints resolution, investigation and assurance function, reporting directly to the Chief Executive independently of operational line management. The legislation acknowledges the high level of risk attached to prison management and the need to provide a level of legislative prescription, protection and access for the Chief Executive’s assurance agents in matters related to sentence management and imprisonment in particular.

Section 15A of the Parole Act 2002

Section 15A(4) of the Parole Act 2002 requires the Department of Corrections to include in its Annual Report information about the use of electronic monitoring.

The information required covers:

  • the number of offenders who were at any time subject to an electronic monitoring condition
  • the average number of offenders who were subject to an electronic monitoring condition and the average duration of the condition
  • the percentage of offenders who, while subject to an electronic monitoring condition attached to an extended supervision order, were convicted for a breach of the condition, or convicted of any other offence
  • a description of processes and systems relating to electronic monitoring that were in place during the year reported on.