Ministry of Justice

Evidence suggests that the number of people impacted by family violence offending has been declining over the long-term. However, there is little evidence on whether this offending is being substituted with other forms of coercive and controlling behaviour.

This document summarises key findings of the NZCVS Cycle 2 (2018 – 19).

This document summarises data collected by NZCVS Cycle 2 (2018 – 19) and provides information about data accuracy.

Most people enter prison for the first time at a young age. Overall, 5% of people born in 1981 had been in prison by age 35. Imprisonment rates vary by gender and ethnic group and rates for Māori men are particularly high. In recent years the proportion of young people who have been in prison has trended downward for all ethnic groups.

Since June 2014 the number of people going into custodial remand has increased as has the average time on remand. As a result, the remand population has increased significantly over the same period.

The number of people charged in court for drug offences has fallen by 35% since 2010, mostly driven by a 58% decrease in people charged for cannabis. However, over the same period people charged for methamphetamine has increased by 34%, and now exceeds the number of people charged for cannabis.

The proportion of time served in prison before release is increasing. Since the Parole Act 2002 came into force, the average proportion of prison sentences served before release on parole has increased from 55% to 78%. This has been one of the key drivers of the increase in the number of people in prison.

The criminal justice system is made up of the proceeding, prosecution, court and sentencing stages. People ‘flow’ through the criminal justice system, taking different paths at each stage. Māori are disproportionately represented at all stages, and this rate of disproportion increases the further through the criminal justice system they go. This factsheet is supported by a visual representation of the system.