Prisoner regime seen as increasing chaplaincy demand

In a submission to Parliament’s Justice Committee on the Corrections (Management of Prisoners, and Prisoners’ Property) Amendment Bill, the Commission stressed that prison chaplaincy and faith ministries that visit the imprisoned are essential, both for the faith life of the visitor and those imprisoned.

The Bill broadens the legal basis for segregating prisoners, but also mandates basic rights for those prisoners, Radio New Zealand reported.

The Bill would allow prison managers to segregate a prisoner to prevent them from committing an offence, recruiting or radicalising others into harmful ideologies, or recruiting others into organised criminal groups. It also outlines and broadens the conditions under which a prisoner can be mandated a Designated Management Prisoner.

Among basic conditions for prisoners would be a new requirement for minimum meaningful human contact for all prisoners of 10-14 hours over a week and/or fortnightly frequency.

The Commission welcomed that human contact safeguard and the prohibition of prolonged solitary confinement, but stressed that these protections must be practical, enforceable and consistently applied.

The Commission also acknowledged the need to safely manage high-risk prisoners. However, it challenged aspects of the Bill that place too strong an emphasis on control and segregation. It was predicted that as more prisoners are placed in segregated isolation, the higher the pastoral and spiritual demand will be.

Chaplaincy will be in greater demand, the Commission stated, and it should be recognised as an act of qualifying and quantifying “meaningful human contact” and become a more official and structured part of prison management.

The submission stated there would likely be a shortage of qualified chaplains to meet rising demand, unless proactive workforce planning and investment occur.

The Commission recommended confirmation of access to chaplaincy for all prisoners, including those in restrictive regimes, as well as protection of the independence and confidentiality associated with pastoral practice.

The Commission also called for the maintaining of reasonable access to religious services and sacraments, and expressed concern over the Bill’s disproportionate impact on Māori.

FULL STORY

Correction (Management of Prisoners) Amendment Bill 2026 (Justice and Peace Commission/NZ Parliament)

New prisoner segregation rules get ‘dignity, not sympathy’ response from MPs (Radio New Zealand)