Department of Corrections (New Zealand)
Encyclopedia
The Department of Corrections (in Māori
, Ara Poutama Aotearoa) is a state sector organisation
of New Zealand
. Its core responsibility is the management of the New Zealand corrections
system.
New Zealand's Minister of Corrections is the Hon. Judith Collins
.
. Byers retired from the public service in 2005 and was replaced by Barry Matthews
. Matthews is a former Deputy Commissioner of Police in New Zealand and was for a time the Commissioner of the Western Australian Police Force. The Department is part of the national public service of New Zealand
. In early 2006, the Department officially adopted the Māori
name Ara Poutama Aotearoa.
) imposed by New Zealand's Courts and the New Zealand Parole Board are administered in a safe, secure, humane and effective way. The Department aims to improve public safety by ensuring offenders comply with their sentences and reducing the level of re-offending by delivering rehabilitation programmes and providing education and job training.
The Department:
, and comprises a number of groups.
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
, Ara Poutama Aotearoa) is a state sector organisation
State sector organisations in New Zealand
Public sector organisations in New Zealand include the State sector plus the organisations of local government.Within the State sector lies the State services, and within this, lies the core Public service....
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Its core responsibility is the management of the New Zealand corrections
Corrections
In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies and involving the punishment, treatment, and supervision of persons who have been convicted of crimes....
system.
New Zealand's Minister of Corrections is the Hon. Judith Collins
Judith Collins
Judith Anne Collins is a New Zealand National Party politician and a lawyer. She is a front bench Cabinet minister with the portfolios of Police, Corrections and Veterans' Affairs in the Fifth National Government....
.
History
The department was established on 1 October 1995, following government decisions on the recommendations of the Review of the New Zealand Department of Justice in 1994. In effect the Department of Justice was divided into the Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Justice. Corrections was led for its first ten years by Chief Executive, Mark G. ByersMark G. Byers
Mark G. Byers is a former New Zealand civil servant who was the first Chief Executive of the New Zealand Corrections Department from 1995 to February 2005. Byers oversaw a range of significant organizational development initiatives and major changes to the way in which offenders are managed. His...
. Byers retired from the public service in 2005 and was replaced by Barry Matthews
Barry Matthews
Barry Matthews was a Chief Executive of the New Zealand Department of Corrections. He replaced Mark G. Byers in February 2005. He himself was replaced by Ray Smith on December 25th, 2010....
. Matthews is a former Deputy Commissioner of Police in New Zealand and was for a time the Commissioner of the Western Australian Police Force. The Department is part of the national public service of New Zealand
State sector organisations in New Zealand
Public sector organisations in New Zealand include the State sector plus the organisations of local government.Within the State sector lies the State services, and within this, lies the core Public service....
. In early 2006, the Department officially adopted the Māori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
name Ara Poutama Aotearoa.
Responsibilities
The Department of Corrections is tasked with ensuring that custodial sentences (imprisonment) and non-custodial sentences and orders (home detention, community work, community detention, supervision, intensive supervision, extended supervision and paroleParole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
) imposed by New Zealand's Courts and the New Zealand Parole Board are administered in a safe, secure, humane and effective way. The Department aims to improve public safety by ensuring offenders comply with their sentences and reducing the level of re-offending by delivering rehabilitation programmes and providing education and job training.
The Department:
- Was managing 8469 prisoners across 20 prisons as at the end of March 2010.
- The average number of offenders on community sentences and orders being managed on any given day was 44,893 as at the end of March 2010.
- The average annual cost of housing a prisoner was $90,977 or $249.25 per day in the 2008/09 financial year.
- Prisoners are fed at a cost of less than $5 a day per person
- The average cost per offender on a community-based sentence or order was $9.92 per day or $3621 per year in the 2008/09 financial year.
- Offenders serving Community Work sentences completed 3,285,373 hours of work in the 2008/09 financial year.
- Corrections provided 44,596 pre-sentence reports to the judiciary in the 2008/09 financial year.
Structure
The Department is headed by the Chief Executive, Ray SmithRay Smith
Ray Smith may refer to:*Ray Smith , Welsh actor, starred in the TV series Dempsey & Makepeace*Ray Smith , Canadian writer from Cape Breton*Ray Smith , baseball player...
, and comprises a number of groups.