Justice Sector Long Term Insights Briefing

Introduction

• The Salvation Army welcomes this briefing document that captures well key trends and the issues relating to imprisonment in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2022. The Long Term Insights (LTI) Briefing provides sound evidence and analysis that will inform the future of justice policy. 
• The Salvation Army’s vision for imprisonment in this country is that we should aim to have among the lowest imprisonment rates among the other wealthy countries with which we compare ourselves (e.g. OECD countries). Our prison system needs to be part of a system that enables transformation and healing and reduces the likelihood of further offending and harm. 
• The public narrative about law and order is often emotive and reactive, and has tended to be influenced by ‘tough on crime’ narratives that do not reflect the reality of lives of those affected and the communities they live in. Transforming imprisonment will involve addressing the social and economic exclusion that results in our country’s high imprisonment rate. 
• We recognise that prisons in this land are a product of the colonial settlement in the 19th Century and were unknown amongst tangata whenua prior to this time. There is still much to be learned from drawing upon mātauranga Māori to inform alternatives to imprisonment and approaches to justice shaped by the Te Tiriti o Waitangi relationship. 

 

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