Dear Department of Corrections,

I had previously requested information as follows, dated 30/01/21

Dear Department of Corrections,

In regards to N.R.C.F, my understanding is that inmates in mainstream, sentenced units do not receive the standard Freeview Christian Channels such as, Hope Channel, FirstLight and Shine.

For what reasons do the inmates not receive these channels?

How can we go about inmates receiving these channels, like other prison do?

You may not be awear, but for many prisons and inmates, there is no available Church services. Having channels of these type available will help so many inmates find or continue Spirituality, Religion, Grounding and much more. It will also provide inmates with regular Church Service every Sunday, which supports CORRECTIONS ACT 2004 SECTION 79 (1).

Having these channels available will be very beneficial for all inmates residing at N.R.C.F.

With The Department Of Corrections response stating,

Due to technical constraints, the number of television channels available in prisons is
limited by supporting infrastructure. All prison units are connected to the prison site’s
distributed television network and available television channels do not vary between
any Corrections-managed prisons.

There are 12 channels available across prisons, which consist of nine Freeview
television channels, one Corrections television channel and two Freeview radio
channels. This is currently the maximum number of channels that prison
infrastructure can support. Content is selected based on which Freeview channels
are appropriate for the intended audience within a prison.

In May 2020 we made changes to the channels available following an assessment
carried out to determine which content was best received by people in prison. As a
result the following changes were made:

•
Removal of Concert FM and Base FM (two radio channels that prisoners can
still listen to on their own radio or by purchasing a radio) and HGTV channels (a
home improvement channel).
•
Addition of Choice TV (documentaries), Bravo (reality and documentaries) and
the Edge TV (music TV).

With my response as,

Thankyou for your response, unfortunately I find this very untrue.
In fact Auckland South Corrections Facility and Mount Eden Corrections Facility have some of the mentioned channels.

It is unfair for other prisons not to receive the same.

Also you say that faith services are available in prison. This is not the case. If there is no volunteers there are no services. And if there is no staff for movement there is no service. Many people don’t get to attend these so called provided services.

I would like to request a response to the above as an O.I.A , and also, why is it that only these two prisons have available faith channels? The previous correspondence states - All prison units are connected to the prison site’s
distributed television network and available television channels do not vary between
any Corrections-managed prisons.

How can we make these channels that are available at A.S.C.F and M.E.C.F available to the rest of New Zealand prison facilities in order to support CORRECTIONS ACT 2004 SECTION 79 (1)?

Yours faithfully,

Moka Harris