[4] In 1906 The Evening Post (now defunct) described the act setting up probation as "one of the best ever placed on a statute book" and said "those who in 1886 had opposed it as dangerous legislation must now admit that such opinions were erroneous".
In her "Blameless Babes" speech at Victoria University in 2009, Dame Sian said that "when legislation was enacted in England in 1907, one of the functions of the probation officer was 'to advise, assist and befriend' the offender."
She said this principle was endorsed in New Zealand by the 1954 Criminal Justice Act which required probation officers "to assist the social rehabilitation of offenders."
However Dame Sian points out that in the 21st century, "the statutory functions of the probation officer contain no explicit reference to advice or assistance, much less to 'befriending'," and she suggests that something has been lost in the process.
[10] Ralph Hanan the Minister of Justice at the time described it as new sentence which would "provide a useful method of dealing with young louts, vandals and the like who may be headed towards a criminal career if not diverted at an early age".
The offender is required to notify the probation officer where they live and work and must obey any directives which prohibit "association with specified persons" such as co-offenders.
Offenders on home detention are required to wear an ankle bracelet and stay at an approved address where they are electronically monitored 24 hours a day for up to 12 months.
Any leave of absence to attend work, rehabilitation programmes, or important appointments such as the doctor requires pre-approval of the offender's probation officer.
In 1997, William Bell killed three people and seriously injured another (Susan Couch) at the Panmure RSA after Probation failed to monitor him adequately once he was released from prison.
[25] Shortly afterwards, the Auditor General, Kevin Brady examined Probations' management of 100 separate cases and issued a highly critical report.
[26] The report was released soon after Corrections claimed it had improved its management of prisoners on parole following its disastrous mishandling of Graeme Burton's case.
The judge said the report was "extremely unhelpful" because it recommended community service and ignored his order to consider home detention in the case of two young men who flashed a laser light at a police helicopter.
These assessments enable judges to decide whether the offender should be mandated to attend alcohol and drug counselling or a residential treatment programme as part of the sentence.
Although 80% of offenders commit their crimes under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs,[29] historically judges have ordered an assessment or treatment in only 5% of cases.
In March 2015, probation officer Stanley Gilmour sued the Corrections Department after key paragraphs about a particular prisoner, whom he described as having a high risk of violent reoffending, were removed without his knowledge from his report delivered to the Parole Board.
Mr Gilmour's barrister Warren Templeton said: "The claim highlights actions which fundamentally undermine the integrity of the system" and the report was forwarded to the Parole Board on a "misleading and incorrect basis".
According to Corrections, "statistical or actuarial scales (such as the RoC*RoI) consistently outperform the judgements of experts" when assessing risk of re-offending.
[37] Section 43(1(a)) of the Parole Act 2002 states: When an offender is due to be released at his or her statutory release date, or to be considered by the Board for parole, the Department of Corrections must provide the Board with copies of all relevant information relating to the offender's current and previous convictions, including (for example) sentencing notes and pre-sentence reports.
After the 2011 election, a commitment to conduct alcohol and drug assessments on all parolees prior to their release was included as part of the confidence and supply agreement between Peter Dunne of United Future and the National Party.