List of prisons in New Zealand
There are 18 adult prisons in New Zealand. Three prisons house women, one each in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The remaining fifteen house men; ten in the North Island and five in the South Island. The facilities are managed by the Department of Corrections. In addition, there are five youth correctional facilities, termed [|youth justice residences], which are managed by Oranga Tamariki.
There are five security levels in New Zealand adult prisons: Minimum, Low, Low-Medium, High and Maximum.
In 2018 North & South magazine published a long-form article by Paul Little titled "The Case for Closing Prisons" which included data on New Zealand prison inmate populations.
List of prisons
Northern Region
Northland Region Corrections Facility (Ngawha)
Corrections Facility is located 5 km northeast of the town of Kaikohe and is colloquially known as Ngawha – after the local area. Maori in Northland tried to persuade the Corrections Department not to upset a local taniwha by building the prison on thermal land. They were unsuccessful and the facility opened in 2005. Following completion, the foundations proved to be unstable.The prison accommodates up to 548 prisoners with security classifications ranging from minimum to high-medium and employs 180 staff.
Auckland Prison (Paremoremo)
Auckland Prison opened in 1968 and is at Paremoremo, on the northern fringe of Auckland, and thus also known as Paremoremo Prison. It contains New Zealand's only specialist maximum-security prison unit and houses some of the most violent criminals in the country.It has beds for 680 prisoners, and in 2010, about 90 prisoners were classified as maximum security. It has a 60-bed treatment unit for child-sex offenders called Te Piriti and a Special Needs Unit. In November 2011, a Drug Treatment Unit was established with clinical staff coming from Odyssey House. The DTU houses up to 48 prisoners and provides an intensive 12-week programme targeted at prisoners serving sentences of between four and twelve months.
Mount Eden Corrections Facility
HistoryThere has been a prison on the Mount Eden site in Auckland since 1856. The first building was made of timber and was known as the Stockade. A new stone building opened in 1865 although the stone wall that surrounds the prison was not finished until the mid-1870s – using prison labour.
The old Mount Eden Prison used to hold about 420 prisoners and was squalid, substandard and unsafe. In 2004 the Department acknowledged the prison "falls well-short of the basic requirements for a modern corrections facility"; a New Zealand Herald editorial described it as an "antiquated pile beyond redemption as a suitable place to incarcerate humans". The 120-year-old prison was closed in 2011. Although it no longer houses inmates, the building has a 'category one' classification from Heritage New Zealand due to its historical significance and architectural quality. The building was to be restored and converted for staff and administration use for the new prison completed on the same site.
Current
The $40 million Auckland Central Remand Prison, housing about 250 remand inmates, opened in July 2000, next to the old prison. It became the main reception prison for newly remanded male prisoners in the Auckland region. ACRP was the first prison in New Zealand to be administered by a private company. It was run by an Australian company, GEO Group. Five years later, ACRP was returned to state operation by a Labour government.
A major project to redevelop the site and create another facility began in 2008. New accommodation blocks and support facilities were constructed at a cost of $216 million. The prison was renamed the Mt Eden Corrections Facility and now holds 966 prisoners. It opened on 30 March 2011.
In May 2010, the National Government decided that the prison would be privatised once again and British conglomerate, Serco, was awarded the contract. Five years later videos appeared online showing gang members fighting inside MECF. Allegations were made that there was an organised 'fight club' and that prisoners were filming the fights on cell phones and posting them on social media. Following an investigation, the Corrections Department stepped in to take over day-to-day management of the prison and then in December, the Government announced that Serco's contract would not be renewed in March 2017.
In 2019 North & South magazine published the story of Pasimaca Osment, who in 1991 became one of the first female prison officers in New Zealand to work in a maximum-security jail. The piece describes her experiences at Mt Eden Corrections Facility, Spring Hill Corrections Facility and Paremoremo.
Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility
The Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility is in the Wiri suburb of south Auckland. The site is 47 ha in size, of which only 13 ha are currently covered by the prison, leaving considerable room for expansion. With so much space available, in 2011 it became the proposed site for a new $900 million 960-bed men's prison which was to be built by 2015 and operated by British conglomerate Serco. This would make the suburb of Wiri the country's biggest prison precinct.The original plan was for only 150 beds, but a 20 per cent hike in the number of women being sent to prison led to a significant expansion. Despite the increase, women still make up only 6% of the prison population. ARWCF now houses up to 456 prisoners and as a result of the increase, the cost blew out from an estimated $58 million to $158 million.
ARWCF is the first purpose-built women's prison in New Zealand. Until it was built, female prisoners have mostly had to serve their sentences at women's prisons in Wellington and Christchurch.
The prison also provides the Kowhiritanga Programme. This rehabilitation programme is designed to address the particular needs of female prisoners – many of whom have suffered sexual abuse. Auckland University sociologist Tracey McIntosh says virtually all Maori women in prisons have been physically or sexually abused – and were excluded from school by the age of 13. The Making Choices programme uses cognitive-behavioural therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, group psychotherapy, recreational psychology and a narrative approach to therapy.
In 2010 it was reported that eight prisoners at the facility were training dogs as part of the Puppies in Prison programme. The puppies were being trained by low security prisoners to help people in the community living with disabilities. The puppies help prepare the prisoners for life outside prison as well as learning around 90 tasks to help their future owners. They live with the women in self care units at the prison and even attend rehabilitation and education programmes with them. The puppies spend a year with the prisoners, before returning to the community for advanced training.
Auckland South Corrections Facility
In 2010 Corrections Minister, Judith Collins said an additional 2270 prison beds would be needed by 2019 to cope with forecast growth in prisoner numbers and to replace ageing existing prisons. In response, the Government announced that the Department of Corrections proposed the establishment of a new men's prison with 1060 beds on undeveloped land adjacent to the Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility at 20 Hautu Drive, Wiri, Manukau City.Environment Minister Nick Smith established a board of inquiry to fast-track the building of the new prison allowing it to bypass the usual resource consents process which is subject to appeals in the Environment Court. After a three-week hearing in May 2011, the inquiry gave Corrections the go ahead to build the prison. A few months later, justice sector forecasts showed a drop in the projected prison population – for the first time ever. Prime Minister John Key then commented that the new prison at Wiri may no longer be needed but also said it might still be built so that 'older prisons may be retired'.
The contract to build and manage a new 960-bed prison was eventually award to Serco in 2012. It provided 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.
In March 2022, Te Ao Māori News reported that Wiri prisoners were experiencing unliveable conditions including denial of prison visits, unjustified lockdowns, lack of access to medical care, and insufficient safeguards against COVID-19. Te Ao reported that these conditions had led to two suicides within the space of five months. In response, Serco disputed several incidents in Te Ao's report and defended the quality of its care and services provided to prisoners. That same month, Radio New Zealand reported that Serco was using interns to write psychological reports on Wiri prisoners for the Parole Board.
On 21 December 2023, Serco confirmed that a Wiri inmate had attacked two other prisoners, killing one and hospitalising another. Serco reported the incident to the police and promised to assist the Police investigation. Serco and the Coroner for Investigation also announced that they would carry out a review. The prison was also placed on lockdown with communications and visits being restricted. The following day, Police charged a 47-year-old man with murder and wounding. Serco confirmed that they would carry a review and that they were providing staff and prisoners with support.
Despite controversies, Serco has been awarded $6 million for low recidivism rates between 2021 and 2025. They hit a recidivism rate of 13.6 percent after two years, compared to the national average of around 34 percent. However, its argued these rates are not comparable because of Wiri's prisoner demographics and the fact many of them have taken rehabilitation programmes in public corrections prior.