The Board also sets conditions of release for offenders so their reintegration back in to the community can be effectively managed.
[2] As a British colony, New Zealand adopted the penal system common in Britain and the country’s first jails were established in the 1840s.
In 1881 an authoritarian army officer, Colonel Arthur Hume, was appointed as the first Inspector-General of prisons (and later Commissioner of Police).
He started a major prison-building programme and advocated for the introduction of the Habitual Criminals Act passed in 1906 "for the indeterminate detention of incorrigible offenders".
He also introduced an early version of parole whereby prisoners were given credit for good behaviour and hard work that could lead to earlier release.
[7] Hume retired in 1909, allowing Minister of Justice Sir John Findlay to introduce a more rehabilitative approach to the treatment of prisoners.
Mason, who eventually became the Minister of Justice, said in parliament that it was the function of the prisons "to imprison, to flog, to hang, not to care for a man in any other way".
[9] Public awareness of the need for prison reform grew stronger in the 1940s, but little changed until John Robson and Sam Barnett headed up the Department of Justice in the 1950s and 1960s.
[11] Today the Corrections Department continues to use psychologists to write reports on prisoners appearing for parole and to assess their risk of re-offending.
[13] In the 1990s a number of high-profile violent crimes led, once again, to calls for longer prison sentences and a more punitive approach.
The board conducted a review of its decision to release Burton, leading to a much more structured approach to its decision-making for prisoners from then on.
[22] As a result, the Board now seldom considers the release of any prisoner until they have successfully completed a rehabilitation programme which addresses the lifestyle factors which contributed to their offending.
Even if a programme is available, the Corrections Department is reluctant to let prisoners start one until they have completed two thirds of their sentence.
[26] This is evident in the 30-year non-parole period given to William Bell, who murdered three people at the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA.
Former Board chairman Sir David Carruthers says that murderers and those given indefinite sentences will remain behind bars until they are no longer considered a risk to the community.
Having served the minimum non-parole period of their sentence, if the Board feels that an offender no longer poses an undue risk, it may agree to their release but sets conditions which are then monitored by Community Corrections.
Corrections psychologists use a mathematical formula known as the RoC*RoI to assess every prisoner's risk of re-offending.
[36] Some victims feel compelled to make submissions before the Parole Board to oppose the offender's release.
The mother of pizza delivery man Michael Choy, murdered by a group of six youths in 2001[37] has made submissions every year.
In 2005 she was quoted as saying: "The heinous circumstances of this crime are always in my thoughts as my life continues to revolve around writing submissions and attending parole hearings.
Registered victims have the right to ask for certain information[clarification needed] from Corrections to assist in making submissions.
If the offender has been convicted of a serious sexual or violent crime the Department of Corrections may apply for an Extended Supervision Order to monitor them after they have been released from prison.
They tend to come from backgrounds where there has been parental conflict, harsh discipline, neglect, various forms of psychological, physical or sexual abuse and alcohol and drug addiction - combined with "poverty, poor housing, instability, association with delinquent peers and unemployment".
[47] Offenders from this kind of background often re-offend and return to prison quite quickly - as reflected in New Zealand's high rates of recidivism.
The Auditor General deliberately included 52 offenders who were considered to pose a high risk to the public.
"[54] The report was released soon after Corrections claimed it had improved its parole management following its disastrous mishandling of Graeme Burton's case.