Department of Corrections

The Department of Corrections manages New Zealand’s prisons.

Facts and statistics

This page on the Department of Corrections site links to statistics about prisons.

Find a prison or corrections facility

A map linking to information about New Zealand’s prisons.

Howard League for Penal Reform

The Howard League promotes debate on issues of crime, punishment, rehabilitation and alternatives to prison.

Offender Volumes Report 2009

Information about the offender population from the Department of Corrections, using data from 1980 to 2009.

World Prison Brief

International prison statistics, from the International Centre for Prison Studies.

Burnett, R. I. M. Hard labour, hard fare and a hard bed: New Zealand’s search for its own penal philosophy. Wellington: National Archives of New Zealand, 1995.

Dalley, Bronwyn. ‘Prisons without men: the development of a separate women’s prison in New Zealand.’ New Zealand Journal of History 27, no. 1 (1993): 37–60.

Newbold, Greg. The problem of prison: corrections reform in New Zealand since 1840. Wellington: Dunmore, 2007.

Pratt, John, Punishment in a perfect society: the New Zealand penal system, 1840–1939. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1997.

Taylor, Antony. The prison system and its effects. Rev ed. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2011.

Webb, Patricia M. A history of custodial and related penalties in New Zealand. Wellington: Government Printer, 1982.