Arohata Prison. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Volunteers working on education, social, alcohol and drug programmes have not been allowed back into a women's prison in Wellington since Covid-19.
Before Covid, Arohata Prison had up to 30 volunteers helping on a variety of initiatives - that has been reduced to two.
Education tutor Ruth Tait, who worked at Arohata for six years until earlier this year, says volunteers helped with education classes and one-on-one tutoring.
Classes stopped after Covid and had not started up again when she left her role. A computer room where prisoners used to study was also out of use.
"One of the things that used to happen when me and my colleague were there is you'd go into the wing, and they'd all be yelling out, 'Can I do this? Can I do that? Can I do this course?'
"So there was certainly a lot of demand for education, and it was getting depressing not to be able to deliver anything and say we haven't got any classes."
Staff shortages impact Arohata Prison
Lawyer Stacey Shortall runs The Mothers Project, a network of volunteer lawyers which helps jailed mothers maintain connections with their children and work with Oranga Tamariki. While their lawyers have been able to resume face-to-face visits with inmates at Auckland and Christchurch women's prisons, they haven't at Arohata, which is only allowing them to do video calls.
She said that breaks the confidentiality of the conversations.
"I believe that Mothers Project makes a difference. We hear that directly from the caregivers of children whose mothers are inside, and interact with us, we hear it from the mums themselves, we hear it from staff at Corrections.
"So the sooner we can start in person involvement with the women at Arohata again, the better for everyone."
The Department of Corrections said a wide range of other education and rehabilitation programmes, including another drug and alcohol programme, were still continuing.
But Corrections Association president Floyd Du Plessis said there were not enough staff to guard all areas, unlock prisoners from their cells when required and take inmates to the classes all at the same time.
"They've got some programmes, but they're not fully open and at the same time they are not fully unlocking the units every day - they are having a mixture of both.
"But until they get more staff employed and they retain staff - it's something that's just not going to improve."
He said until more staff were employed and kept on, the situation would not improve - and until then safety must be prioritised.
"Staff work in a particularly volatile industry, and when you are dealing with those individuals of society, safety is quite a unique situation and it is vital."
In 2023, the High Court ruled it was illegal for Arohata Prison to move 70 inmates to different prisons due to staff shortages. Corrections deputy commissioner for women Kym Grierson said the staffing situation had improved since then.
There are currently about 27 vacancies out of 144 roles at the prison, higher than at Auckland or Christchurch women's prisons.
"Some areas are easier for us to recruit to for whatever reason, and I don't know the science behind that, and other areas can be more challenging. I do know that the Wellington region is one of the more challenging areas for us to be able to recruit to."
Grierson said three-quarters of Arohata's 118 prisoners were on remand, requiring more staff as they moved in and out of cells for legal visits and court appearances.
She said Corrections was reviewing the services the volunteers provided and was working to see how and if they could go back inside.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said in a statement:
"I am unable to comment on the specific circumstances faced by volunteers at Arohata Prison but I continue to be concerned about the ongoing restrictions imposed on visitors since the Covid-19 Pandemic and the limited access for prisoners to rehabilitation across the prison estate."