On Monday 10 October 2005, the Waitangi Tribunal released its report on certain policies and procedures used by the Department of Corrections in relation to the assessment of offenders. The Offender Assessment Policies Report considered two specific assessment tools (tests) that were designed and used by the department. The tools helped to identify and assess offenders who were at high risk of reoffending, and were intended to assist the development of programmes that could work towards reducing Maori reoffending.
Claimant Tom Hemopo, on behalf of Ngati Kahungunu, claimed that the assessment tools disadvantaged Maori offenders in terms of the type and length of sentences they received. He also alleged deficiencies in the department's consultation with Maori, and in the design, implementation, and use of the tools.
The Tribunal concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish that any prejudice had been or was being caused to Maori offenders. The Tribunal recognised that the department had acted in good faith in order to reduce reoffending and believed that some aspects of the assessment tools were ground-breaking.
Nevertheless, it believed that the 'MaCRNs' tool, which focused on Maori offenders' cultural responsiveness, required more testing and independent evaluation. The Tribunal also identified Treaty breaches in the way that the department had developed that tool without consulting Maori communities, and in its monitoring of the tool's use and effects. It considered that Maori communities, including Ngati Kahungunu, had significant interests in the goal of reducing Maori offending and in using Maori culture to help achieve that goal, and the Tribunal thought that the department's responses to Maori reoffending should be developed and monitored in a manner that was consistent with those interests.
In its summing up, the Tribunal said that it believed the parties might not be far apart in finding a way forward that built on the important work that had already been done.
PDF files of the Offender Assessment Policies Report's introductory chapter and its findings chapter are available for downloading here. Copies of the report can be ordered from all good bookstores or direct from the publishers, Legislation Direct. The full text of the report will be posted here shortly. |
