Chaplaincy services in NZ prisons reaching hundreds

The organisation’s 2026 annual report stated that that an average of 14.8 per cent of prisoners attended a group service at least once a month in the 2024-25 year. There were 10,791 prisoners on July 7, 2025.

The report stated that 5414 group services were delivered in New Zealand prisons and 19,884 individual sessions were provided to prisoners over the period.

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference works closely with TTPCA to provide Catholic chaplaincy in all prisons throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.

The report noted a new area of development that “involves exploring and encouraging the contribution of prisoners to chaplaincy”.

“TTPCA has noted the enthusiasm that the men and women in prison have for contributing to the organisation of their own religious and spiritual life (it started during the COVID lockdown) and we want to foster this emerging aspect of our chaplaincy.”

A new technology application, the Ā-Kanohi Referral Management Tool, was implemented across Corrections sites in 2025, the annual report stated.

“The RMT took several years to develop and represents a significant step forward for TTPCA. It now provides a comprehensive tool that enables chaplains to manage their prisoner referrals and keep accurate records of the one-to-one pastoral care they deliver.

“Accurate referral tracking helps ensure all prisoners are seen promptly, receive fair access to chaplaincy services and get an appropriate amount of time and support. It also allows chaplaincy to monitor site-wide coverage, identify trends and areas of need, and ensure workloads are fairly shared across the team.

“In addition, it also enables early detection of issues, highlights staff support needs and provides reliable data to Corrections and Serco to maintain confidence in the service.”

The report also noted the celebration of 25 years of TTCPA last year.

FULL STORY

2025 TTPCA Annual Report (Tira Tūhāhā Prison Chaplaincy Aotearoa)