There are growing calls to allow prisoners greater access to phones – with current rules allowing one five-minute phone call a week.
One prison reform activist says changes should go even further, with phones installed in every prison cell.
Christine McCarthy, a former president of the Wellington branch of the Howard League for Penal Reform, last year petitioned Parliament to change the rules.
She claimed the current five-minute entitlement restricts the 17,000 children of prisoners from speaking with their parents.
But while the Government says it will consider changing the rules, Corrections says it’s already providing above the minimum entitlement.
According to the report from the Justice Select Committee that considered the petition, the five-minute-per-week entitlement was first legislated 25 years ago.
The committee, controlled by Government MPs, recommended the Government consider increasing the entitlement.
McCarthy says on average, there’s one telephone for every 10 prisoners, but in one prison, as many as 60 prisoners are sharing just two phones.
And in some cases, with prisoners only out of their cells during daytime hours, they’re unable to speak to children and family members at school or work.
“There might be 60 prisoners with a couple of phones. There’s no guarantee they’ll have access.”
The petition was backed by the Human Rights Commission and the Ombudsman.
Chief Ombudsman John Allen told the committee the rule was outdated.
Previous Ombudsman reports found that in some prisons, there were insufficient telephones, with some gang-affiliated prisoners seemingly holding a monopoly over their use.
Allen told the committee that limited unlock hours prevented prisoners from speaking with family – and encouraged Corrections to reconsider collecting data on how prisoners use phones.
The Human Rights Commission also supported an increase to the entitlement – saying increased connection with loved ones would improve mental health and better prepare prisoners for release.
In a statement, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell said prisoners have access to calls well above the minimum entitlement.
“Corrections currently provides prisoners with 30 minutes a day for personal phone calls, well beyond minimum entitlements.
“These entitlements, and other considerations outlined in the report, will be worked through fully in due course.”
Marie Dyhrberg KC says the 30 minute allowance is not what she hears from clients in prison.
“That would surprise me. We are seeing an increase in the prison population, therefore the numbers of phones available must be influenced by that increase.
“Each prisoner having 30 minutes a day, every day, is not what I’m hearing.”
A Corrections spokesperson said in a statement that calls have been free for prisoners since 2023.
A previous per-prisoner time limit of three hours was reduced to 30 minutes, to prevent prisoners from monopolising the phones.
“Prisoners are also able to keep in touch with friends and family through in-person visits, audio-visual link visits, and the prisoner mail system.”
McCarthy, who works as a senior lecturer at Victoria University’s School of Architecture researching prisons, says the Government should also consider installing a phone in every cell.
Auckland South Corrections Facility, privately operated by British giant Serco, has phones installed in each cell, allowing prisoners to make calls to approved numbers as desired.
“Obviously, prisoners apply for the numbers they can have access to, so that can be monitored. But it means you’re not relying on them being out of the cell, and in the evenings when it’s easier to get in touch with family.”
Dyhrberg says at a minimum, access to phones should be increased.
“Having access to family, especially speaking to the kids, really settles your clients down. They love having the contact.
“Five minutes, when you think about it, is not much time at all. Especially if the littlies want to tell you how their day was.”
She backs the idea of phones in cells.
“It’s not going to be open season – but that would be very helpful for us.
“It would be a very, very good thing for prisoners to have. It very much makes it easier for them to keep in touch with us – or just make contact with someone or keep in touch with families.”
Ethan Griffiths is a political reporter with Newstalk ZB, based in the parliamentary press gallery. He joined NZME as a print journalist in 2020, previously working as a general reporter in Whanganui and an Open Justice reporter in the Bay of Plenty and Wellington.