UNITY
Smart On Crime
An evidence-based plan to make New Zealand safer
New Zealand's justice system is falling short. Interventions for at-risk young people come too late, or not at all. Reoffending rates are unacceptably high: more than half of all people leaving prison are convicted of another crime within two years. And victims are being let down too, facing long delays and poor communication when they most need support.
It's time for a smarter approach.
For too long, political parties have used tough-sounding ideology, rather than evidence, to dictate how we reduce crime. Instead, Opportunity will insist that every justice initiative is designed by experts and rigorously evaluated, so that public funding goes to programmes that actually reduce crime.
We’ll address the drivers of crime and invest in initiatives that stop young people offending in the first place. We'll improve restorative justice, so victims feel heard, informed, and supported, and we'll break the cycle of crime with better programmes to safely reintegrate people into society after prison.
"We’ll expand programmes that don’t just respond to crime, but stop it from happening in the first place.”
THREE PILLARS OF A SMART APPROACH TO CRIME:
Stop crime before it starts
- Offer voluntary interventions as soon as risk factors are identified, starting with a child's very first Oranga Tamariki Report of Concern. Expand the capacity of programmes that provide sustained, whānau-centred support for at-risk young people like parenting courses, youth mentoring and trauma counselling.
- Grow specialist courts and expand programmes that work including the Young Adult List, Te Pae Oranga, the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court and Rākau Ora.
- Target the real drivers of offending, including addiction, undiagnosed conditions like ADHD and FASD, and family violence and dysfunction.
- Regulate recreational use of cannabis to undercut organised crime and reduce youth incarceration.
Put victims at the centre of the process
- Scale restorative justice programmes proven to reduce victim trauma and lower reoffending. We'll fund extra capacity to cut wait times and ensure that every victim is informed about what happened to the offender.
- Complete the national rollout of specialist sexual violence courts, which pilots showed cut time to trial by around a third and reduced re-traumatisation for complainants.
- Review victims' rights, legal processes and public reporting in sexual violence cases to reduce revictimisation.
Break the cycle of crime
Too many people leave prison without a stable home, job or support system to return too. Without this stability, prisoners leaving custody are significantly more likely to reoffend. To break this cycle of crime, Opportunity will:
- Expand proven vocational and trade training, with a focus on building partnerships with employers willing to hire people on release - creating a direct path from prison qualification to paid work in the community.
- Fund specialist case management to coordinate support that goes beyond the justice system, including accommodation, employment and practical support through partnerships with employers, iwi and community organisations.
- Increase investment in post-release mentoring - providing sustained, wraparound support over the post-release period.
Tough-on crime is a slogan for short-term political gain. Smart on Crime is a plan for long-term safety and security.
