Inquiry into the Waikeria Prison riot – progress reports
6 August 2024
On 20 June 2024, the Office of the Inspectorate released the report of the Inquiry into the Waikeria Prison riot (29 December 2020 – 3 January 2021). The Inquiry was commissioned by the Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections and conducted by the Chief Inspector of the Office of the Inspectorate. As well as examining the riot itself, the report investigates the underlying causes of the riot, missed opportunities to contain the riot, the response to the riot, the post-incident response, and Health Services preparedness and response. The report is here.
The report made 117 findings and 121 recommendations (of which, the Department accepted 117 in full). It included this recommendation: ‘Corrections must provide a comprehensive progress report to the Office of the Inspectorate, in writing, on all recommendations arising from this Inquiry in six months and thereafter at six monthly intervals’. The following updates have been received from the Department on 8 August 2023 and 15 February 2024. (Please note, in the 8 August 2023 table, some system lead roles referenced have changed following the Department’s restructure Te Ara Whakamua on 1 April 2024).
Some information has been withheld in accordance with the following sections of the Official information Act 1982:
*6(c), to protect the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial
*9(2)(h), to maintain legal professional privilege. In accordance with section 9(1) we have considered, and do not believe, any public interest considerations outweigh the reason to withhold the legally privileged information in this instance.