Annual Report 2023/24

He tau pai te tau kua hipa, heoi he tau i kitea ai ngā huringa mō te Ara Poutama.

He kaupapa hira tonu ngā kaimahi, ā, e manawareka ana ki te kite i te nui haere o ngā kaimahi puta noa i te motu, e tika ai te nui o ngā kaimahi.

Ehara i te mea ka rata ngā tāngata katoa ki te mahi i te Ara Poutama, otirā i te mura o te ahi, heoi 1,986 ngā tāngata i uru mai hei kaimahi i te tau, ā, 1,652 o ēnei kei ngā tūranga i te mura o te ahi i ngā whare herehere, i roto rānei i te hapori. Mai i te Tīhema o te tau 2022, i taka ai te maha o ngā āpiha a te Ara Poutama ki tōna tino tokoiti (3,454), neke atu i te 600 ngā āpiha hou i runga atu i ērā kua wehe i whiwhi mahi, nō reira huihui katoa 4,068 ngā āpiha a te Ara Poutama, atu ki te 30 o Hune 2024. Kei te ara tika mātou ki te whakarahi ake i tēnei tatau i tēnei tau.

I te taha o te rapu kaimahi, i mau tonu i a mātou ā mātou kaimahi, ā, i heke te maha o te hunga i wehe mai i te 15.1% ki te 11.2%, ko te tatau iti rawa tēnei o ngā wehenga i te toru tau.

Hei tautoko i tēnei, e aro ana mātou ki te whakapau kaha ki te whakatipu i te kaha me te whakangungu i ā mātou kaimahi kei te mura o te ahi, tae atu ki te whakarite i tētahi ara pūrangiaho hei whakatipu aramahi pūmau i te Ara Poutama. Kei roto i tēnei ko te hāpai ake i ngā kaupapa oranga i raro i ngā upoko matua e toru – te whakahaere wharanga, oranga, me te whakatairanga hauora.

Ko ētahi o ngā tauira o nā tata nei e tautoko ana i te haumaru o ngā kaimahi i rō whare herehere ko te whakarato whakangungu rautaki rauhanga mā ngā kaimahi, te whakapiki i te oranga o ngā kaimahi, me te whakauru mai i ngā tikanga hei whakaiti i te mōrea o te whakarekereke me te pukuriri ki ngā kaimahi.

Kei te nui haere atu te uru mai o te hunga i pā ki te whakarekereke, kua pāngia e te mate hinengaro, me te waranga. Nā tēnei ka mauri rere te āhua o ētahi, ā, i ētahi wā he haupatu, nō reira ko te whakarite kei a mātou ngā whakangungu me ngā utauta tika hei āwhina i ā mātou kaimahi i ēnei āhuatanga te mea tino hira. He pērā anō mō ā mātou kaimahi Hapori, Hononga me ngā Ara e whakarite ana i ngā āhuatanga tino uaua, tata ki te 26,000 ngā tāngata e tiakina ana e rātou kua whiua, kei raro whakatau rānei mai i te whakahaere taikaha ki te tukuhere.

I kitea anōtia i te 2023/24 te whakatinanatanga o tā mātou anga ā-whakahaere hou. Ko Te Ara Whakamua te tikanga hurihanga hei whakatipu i tō mātou kaha, te whakatairanga i te āhua o tā mātou tuku i ā mātou ratonga, me te tautoko i a mātou ki te whakarato i ō mātou wawata mō tētahi pūnaha whaitake ake, tōtika ake mō te Ara Poutama.

Ko tōna tino iho, ko tā Te Ara Whakamua he whakamana i ā mātou kaimahi kei te mura o te ahi ki te ārahi me te whakatau tikanga e haumaru ake ai te hapori, mā te tautoko kia pai ake te āhua o te tangata i tōna wehenga i te Ara Poutama, ā, kia kitea hoki te oranga mōna. Ko tōna kaupapa kia aro atu ki ā mātou mahi matua, ka mutu kia ōrite tonu te pai o ēnei mahi, ā, kia ngākau rangatira, kia tika te manaaki i te tangata. He kauneke whakaongaonga tēnei mō te Ara Poutama.

I te urunga mai o te Kāwanatanga i te Noema o tērā tau i tukua mai ngā kaupapa matua hou e whā a te Minita e aro ana ki te haumaru o ngā kaimahi, te rapu kaimahi, te whai kaha me te whakarauoranga. E tautokona ana anō ēnei e ngā kaupapa hou i whakaputaina i te Tahua 2024, ā, kei roto ko tētahi haumi nui tonu ki ngā kaimahi ki te mura o te ahi, te whakawhānui anō i a Waikēria, me ngā rawa kia whānui ake te taea o ngā kaupapa whakarauora mauhere e tāria ana ō rātou whiu, tata ki te 44% o te taupori whare herehere.

Nā ngā huringa i whakaurua mai e mātou i tērā tau, me tō mātou angitu ki te whai kaimahi pūmanawa kia tika anō ai te nui o ngā kaimahi, kei te tū pakari mātou ki te whakahaere i ngā nekehanga ā muri nei ki te tokomaha o te hunga ka tiakina e mātou, me ngā uauatanga ka pā mai i te hurihuri o te taupori whare herehere. Ko tōna tikanga me ngāwari tā mātou rautaki me ngā whakahaere, engari e whakapono ana mātou ka tino taea e mātou tēnei te whakahaere mā tā mātou anga hou.

Nō reira, ki a koutou ngā kaimahi neke atu i te 10,000 tino pūmau, tino ngaio a te Ara Poutama – ka nui taku mihi. Ka nui te ngākau whakahī ki tō koutou pūmau ki te āwhina i te tangata kia pai ake ō rātou ao me te tiaki i ngā hapori kia haumaru – ngā mihi maioha.

Jeremy Lightfoot
Hekeretari mō Ara Poutama me te Tumu Whakarae
Te Tumu Whakarae mō Ara Poutama Aotearoa

The past year has been positive, but also one of change for Corrections.

Staffing has remained a key priority, and I’m pleased to see our focus on recruitment has increased staffing levels across the country, moving us back towards sustainable levels.

A career at Corrections, especially on the frontline, is not for everyone, yet we had 1,986 people join us throughout the year with 1,652 of these being frontline roles in prisons or the community setting. Since December 2022, where the number of corrections officers was at its lowest (3,454), we’ve employed more than 600 new corrections officers on top of turnover, bringing our total number of corrections officers to 4,068, as at 30 June 2024. We are already on track to add to this number this coming year.

Alongside recruitment, we’ve also been able to retain more staff with the turnover rate falling from 15.1% to 11.2%, our lowest turnover rate in three years.

To support this, we are focused on investing in the capability and training of our frontline staff, as well as making sure they have a clear pathway to build a longterm career at Corrections. This includes improving our wellbeing initiatives under three main headings – injury management, wellbeing, and health promotion.

Some recent examples of supporting staff safety in prisons include providing tactical training for staff, increasing staff wellbeing and welfare, and introducing a protocol to reduce the risk of violence and aggression toward staff.

Increasingly, the people we manage have histories of violence, mental illness, and addiction. That can make some behave erratically, and sometimes violently, so ensuring we have the right training and equipment to help our staff in these situations is paramount. The same applies for our Communities, Partnerships and Pathways staff who deal with increasingly complex situations, managing around 26,000 people in the community with sentences or orders ranging from intensive supervision to parole.

The 2023/24 year also saw the implementation of our new organisational structure. The Pathway Forward: Te Ara Whakamua is a process of change designed to grow our capability, enhance how we deliver our services, and support us to deliver on our aspirations for a more effective and efficient corrections system.

At its core, Te Ara Whakamua is about empowering our frontline staff to lead and make decisions that make the community safer, by supporting people to leave Corrections better and with brighter prospects.

It is about focusing on our core functions, and doing these consistently well, while treating people with dignity and decency. It is an exciting step forward for Corrections.

The change in Government last November has also given us four new ministerial priorities which focus on staff safety, recruitment, capacity, and rehabilitation.

These are further supported by new initiatives announced in Budget 2024 which include a significant investment in frontline staff, a further expansion of Waikeria Prison, and resources to extend access to rehabilitation programmes to remand prisoners who make up around 44% of the prison population.

The change we have undertaken in the last year, and our success in recruiting talented staff to regain our staffing levels, means we are in a strong position to manage any future movement in the number of people we manage, and the complexities the changing prison population brings. It will mean being flexible in our strategy and operations, but I believe we are more than capable of managing this with our new structure.

Finally, to the more than 10,000 dedicated and highly professional people in the Corrections team – my sincerest thanks. I could not be prouder of your commitment to helping people make positive changes in their lives and keeping our communities safe – ngā mihi maioha.

Jeremy Lightfoot
Secretary for Corrections and Chief Executive
Te Tumu Whakarae mō Ara Poutama Aotearoa