The Department of Corrections (Māori: Ara Poutama Aotearoa) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with managing the New Zealand corrections system. This includes the operations of the 18 prisons in New Zealand and services run by Probation. Corrections' role and functions were defined and clarified with the passing of the Corrections Act 2004. This includes the provision of rehabilitation programmes and the reintegration of prisoners back into the community. In 2024, Corrections had about 10,000 staff responsible for managing around 10,000 prison inmates and 30,000 offenders in the community.
To ensure the department is looking after prisoners in a safe and humane manner, the Ombudsman is required to conduct unnanounced visits to prisons and to investigate the Department's operations.
Corrections purpose Section 5 of the Act defines four goals that the department is required to achieve:Section 5, Purpose of corrections system, Corrections Act ensure that sentences and orders imposed by the courts and the parole board are administered in a "safe, secure, humane, and effective manner;" ensure that prisons are operated in accordance with the Act and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners; assist in the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners back into the community; provide background information on offenders to the courts and the Parole Board to assist them in decision-making.
Safe and humane treatment Staff shortages have led to concerns that prisoners have been locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day, or even longer;Report criticises long lock-up times at Waikeria prison, RNZ, 3 May 2018Mt Eden Prison inmates face 22 to 23-hour lockdowns in cells, physical visits denied as Corrections struggles with staff crisis, Stuff, 6 April 2023Rimutaka prisoners still locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day, Stuff 3 May 2024 they may wait up to three months to see a prison doctor;Prisoners waiting up to three months to see healthcare professional, RNZ, 9 August 2024 Those in prison are four times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population, and twice as likely to experience suicidal ideation.
Rehabilitation An investigation by the Ombudsman into the treatment of prisoners in 2004 found that the availability of rehabilitation programmes was extremely limited.Ombudsmen’s Investigation of the Department of Corrections In Relation to the Detention and Treatment of Prisoners J. Belgrave and M. Smith, Dec 2005. Some improvements have been made and in 2009 it was announced that up to 1,000 prisoners a year would be able to access drug treatment programmes in prison by 2011.Prisoner numbers highlight need for skills, rehab. Beehive, Judith Collins
In 2012, Corrections was tasked by the Government with reducing re-offending by 25% by 2017.Introduction from the Chief Executive, Strategic Intentions 2015-2019, Corrections Department This was a challenging target. Corrections Annual Report from 2017 shows an average reduction in reoffending achieved by 21 different programmes and interventions of 5.3%.Annual Report 2017, Corrections department, p. 163 However, 35% of prisoners are on short sentences (under two years) and historically, have had very limited access to rehabilitation programmes, as these are prioritized for longer-term inmates with more serious offending.Sentence Length, Corrections Website
Since 2018, the effectiveness of the department's programmes has declined even further. For instance, Corrections offers rehabilitation programmes targeting criminal thinking and decision making. One such programme, the Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme (MIRP), is delivered in the community and most prisons. Corrections Annual Report for 2024 found that this program reduced reoffending (in the 12 months after release from prison) by only 1%.Annual Report 2023/24, Corrections Department, p.196
Providing information Section 26A(1) of the Sentencing Act requires probation officers to prepare presentence reports on approximately 30,000 defendants appearing in court each year.Pre-sentence reports, Corrections Department In an interview with Radio New Zealand in 2019, Chester Borrows, chair of the Criminal Justice Reform Panel, said judges and lawyers were dissatisfied with the quality of these reports. He added “presentence reports currently being prepared for Court were badly written and did not provide relevant information. We are hearing from judges and from lawyers that they are cut and paste documents using the same phrases over and over again”. Nigel Hampton, KC is quoted as saying: “the pre-sentencing reports have turned from in-depth studies to routine 'box-ticking' exercises over the past 20 years.” Pre-sentencing reports for offenders criticised by judges and lawyers, RNZ, 29 April 2019
Judges also receive information about defendants from a limited number of alcohol and drug assessments, and from mental health assessments ordered under section 38 of the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003. Cultural reports used to provide more detailed information but legal funding for these was abolished in 2024.One year since funding scrapped for section 27 reports, RNZ, 13 march 2025
Ombudsman's concerns
2005: The Ombudsmen, Mel Smith and John Belgrave, released the results of their Investigation of the Department of Corrections in relation to the detention and treatment of prisoners. They expressed concerns about the lack of work, lack of rehabilitation programmes, the lack of recreation, the extent of property loss, the effect of security classifications which imposed additional restrictions, and the “66% rule” - whereby programmes aimed at reducing reoffending, such as drug and alcohol treatment were postponed until a prisoner had served two-thirds (approximately 66%) of their sentence.Investigation of the Department of Corrections in relation to the detention and treatment of prisoners, Ombudsman, Parliament 2 December 2005.
They also found significant differences in the way front-line staff described problems within prisons than National Office acknowledged in their formal correspondence with the Ombudsmen - adding "we prefer the picture presented by front-line staff".
2023: Chief Ombudsman, Peter Boshier, published a report in which he said the department had a risk-averse and reactive organisational culture, and that it failed to focus its efforts on the fair, safe and humane treatment of people in prison. He called for an "urgent reset" at Corrections. His investigation was prompted by the 2020/2021 Waikeria Prison riots, where many of the problems had already been identified in previous reports, but his recommendations to address them had not been implemented.Summary of Making a Difference, Investigation into the Department of Corrections, Office of the Ombudsman
2024: In a report in 2024 into the Prisoners of Extreme Risk Unit (PERU), he described the unit's conditions as "cruel, inhuman, and degrading".Report on an examination of the Prisoners of Extreme Risk Unit under the Crimes of Torture Act 1989 In 2025, he criticized the Department as "dinosaurian", saying they were too slow in responding to his recommendations.Outgoing Ombudsman criticises 'dinosaurian' prisoner treatment, 1News, 23 March 2025.
2025: By law, prisoners are entitled to a minimum of one hour out of their cells (to exercise and make phone calls) every day. In December 2025, a High Court judge ordered Corrections chief executive to obey the law or face contempt of court proceedings. Civil rights lawyer, Amanda Hill, told Radio New Zealand that Corrections has often ignored this requirement generally blaming short staffing. She said: "This has been raised for coming up 10 years in different forums, the Ombudsman's raised it, the prison inspectors raised it, there's been litigation about it, and the Department has ignored the High Court's directions that [short staffing isn't] a reason to deny minimum entitlement."High Court orders Corrections boss to obey law allowing prisoners one hour out of cell, RNZ, 18 December 2025
Chief Executives Jeremy Lightfoot was appointed as Chief Executive in February 2020.Jeremy Lightfoot appointed Corrections Chief Executive, NZ Law Society, 18 February 2020 Previous chief executives include: Mark Byers, Barry Matthews, and Ray Smith.
History Prior to 1995 the country's prisons, probation system and the courts were all managed by the Department of Justice. The Department of Corrections was formed in 1995 by the Department of Justice (Restructuring) Act 1995. This act gave management of prisoners, parolees and offenders on probation to the Department of Corrections while leaving administration of the court system and fines collection.
Mark Byers was chief executive of the Department of Corrections for its first ten years, retiring in 2005. Byers oversaw a range of organisational initiatives and, in 2000, introduced a new computer system called "Integrated Offender Management". At the time, this was described as "the biggest single initiative the Department has undertaken to reduce reoffending." IOMS cost $40 million but had no impact of the rate of re-conviction which remained at 55% two years after release.
Barry Matthews served as chief executive from 2005 to 2010. In a farewell interview, he listed his top three achievements as the implementation of cell phone blocking technology in prisons, better enforcement by the Probation Service of sentence compliance, and the establishment of the Professional Standards Unit to investigate corruption by prison officers.
Privatisation In 2000, New Zealand's first privately run prison, the Auckland Central Remand Prison, also known as Mt. Eden Prison, opened under contract to Australasian Correctional Management (ACM). However, the use of private prisons in New Zealand has been controversial. The Labour government was opposed to privatisation, and in 2004, amended the law to prohibit the extension of private prison contracts. A year later, the 5-year contract with ACM was not renewed.
In 2010, the National government again introduced private prisons and international conglomerate Serco was awarded the contract to run the Mt Eden Prison. In 2015, Serco's contract to run the Mount Eden prison was revoked due to numerous scandals and operation was given back to the New Zealand Department of Corrections. Serco was ordered to pay $8 million to the New Zealand government as a result of problems at Mount Eden Prison while it was under Serco's management.
Despite its poor performance, Serco was subsequently given the contract to build and manage a new 960-bed prison at Wiri. Corrections contract with Serco provides stiff financial penalties if its rehabilitation programmes fail to reduce reoffending by 10% more than the Corrections Department programmes. The Auckland South Corrections Facility was opened on 8 May 2015. The contract to operate the prison ends in 2040.
Growth in prison population In 1950, there were 1,043 New Zealanders in prison.New Zealand, World Prison Brief Between 1950 and 2018, the prison population rose from 1,043 to 10,820 – an increase of over 1,000%. At 201 prisoners per 100,000 of population (in 2018), this meant New Zealand had one of the highest rates of imprisonment in the Western world.