Mt Eden Corrections Facility, Auckland

What is the greatest thing in the world it is people, it is people, it is people.

This Maori proverb is a guiding principle for how Mount Eden Corrections Facility (MECF) is operated and most importantly, it is the driving force behind how staff engage with prisoners, manuhiri (visitors), Tangata Whenua, Iwi and Mana Whenua.

MECF is located on the edge of Auckland’s CBD and accommodates up to 966 male prisoners, including both remand and sentenced prisoners. Serco assumed management of MECF from the Department of Corrections in May 2011, making it New Zealand’s only privately managed prison.

Under a 10-year contract with the Department, Serco is making innovative changes to programmes and operations at MECF. Some of these changes include:

• Structural changes to the Receiving Office at MECF into a less formal, waiting room setting, reducing new-prisoner incidents and creating a more relaxed environment.
• Introducing a First Night Induction Unit to reduce risk to new prisoners.
• Designing and implementing a Care, Support and Integration (CSI) Unit for prisoners in need of extra support. Improving the way vulnerable prisoners are managed was one of Serco’s key priorities. This Unit is a first for New Zealand prisoners and offers prisoners tailored support that aims to reduce self-harm incidents by providing them with psychiatric and remedial treatment.

MECF is also the only prison in New Zealand to conduct Restorative Justice internally.

Serco also recognises the importance of Tangata Whenua (Maori) hold and the Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) in Aotearoa (New Zealand). We have chosen to uphold their importance at MECF by:

• Establishing our own kaupapa, or list of values, derived from a Maori value system which define and guide staff and prisoners on how to treat others, value themselves and respect our work environment. These values fully align with Serco’s governing principles.
• Encouraging staff to use Te Reo (Maori language) greetings and vocabulary as much as possible.
• Introducing Te Reo language classes into units, which all prisoners both Maori and non-Maori are welcome to attend.

Our tailored solutions to MECF’s specific needs set us apart as a provider of services not simply to our customer, but also to the people under our management. We are proud to be the only private sector company providing a public service of this kind in New Zealand and we are confident that our management of MECF will be a success.