21 December 2021
C142197
Chas Carroll
[FYI request #16996 email] Tēnā koe Chas
Thank you for your email of 1 October 2021 to the Department of Corrections
(Corrections), requesting the following information:
Firstly, I would like to apologise for the delay in responding to you and thank you for
your patience. Consultation with multiple business units was necessary and took
longer than anticipated.
Visits
1) Please provide me with the total number of visits to prisons per day, as far
back as records permit. Please break this down by prison. Please provide me
with this information in an Excel spreadsheet.
Audio-Video Link (AVL) visits
2) Please provide me with the total number of AVL visits in New Zealand
prisons, per week, since January 1, 2019, broken down by prison. Please
provide me with this information in an Excel spreadsheet.
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA).
Visits by whānau and friends are important to help people in prison maintain family
and social relationships. Positive family support also increases their chance of
successfully reintegrating into the community on release from prison.
Members of the public must apply to be an approved visitor of a person in prison.
This includes all children under 18 years of age. People who want to visit must first
fill out a visitor application form, which is followed by security checks.
Visits must be booked in advance. Visiting hours vary across all prisons, and
generally depend on which unit the person is in. In some circumstances, special
visits can be arranged, for example, family visiting from overseas or due to the
bereavement of a loved one.
The data system that holds prison visit information was rolled out over 2000 and
2001 and had a graduated uptake. The daily data for this period is sporadic and will
not represent the entirety of the visits. Therefore, for 2000 and 2001 we have
NATIONAL OFFICE, WELLINGTON
Mayfair House, 44 – 52 The Terrace, Wellington, 6011, Private Box 1206, Wellington 6140,
Phone +64 4 460 3000
www.corrections.govt.nz
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provided the yearly total of visits to each site. This is attached on Tab Two of
Appendix One.
Tab Three of Appendix One provides a breakdown of physical visits to each prison
between 1 January 2002 and 30 September 2021. Any data prior to 1 January 2002
would have been recorded on site and we cannot readily extract this information
from our electronic records. We would need to determine whether the registers are
held in archives, which would require a significant amount of work.
When reviewing Appendix One note that:
• Mt Eden Women’s Prison closed September 2006
• Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility opened August 2006
• Auckland Central Remand Prison closed April 2011
• Dunedin Prison closed July 2007
• Mt Eden Corrections Facility open May 2011
• Mt Eden Men’s Prison closed May 2011
• New Plymouth Prison closed January 2013
• Northland Region Corrections Facility opened April 2005
• Ohura Prison closed October 2005
• Otago Corrections Facility opened June 2007
• Spring Hill Corrections Facility opened November 2007
• Wellington Prison closed October 2012.
Your request relating to AVL visits would be very difficult to provide without
substantial collation. The booking of AVL visits is individually managed by each
prison and there is no centralised recording of these visits. To identify all AVL visits
we would be required to consult with each prison.
In accordance with the OIA, we have considered whether to affix a charge or extend
the time limit for responding. However, given the scale of the request we do not
consider that this would be an appropriate use of our publicly funded resources.
Therefore, this part of your request is declined under section 18(f) of the OIA, as the
information cannot be made without substantial collation or research.
Please note that this response may be published on Corrections’ website. Typically,
responses are published quarterly, or as otherwise determined. Your personal
information including name and contact details will be removed for publication.
I encourage you to raise any concerns about this response with Corrections.
Alternatively, you are advised of your right to also raise any concerns with the Office
of the Ombudsman. Contact details are: Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152,
Wellington 6143.
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I trust the information provided is of assistance.
Ngā mihi
Leigh Marsh
Deputy National Commissioner