OIA-CE-2025-03088
30 September 2025
Riley Parnwell
[FYI request #32189 email]
Tēnā koe Riley
Thank you for your email, received on 1 September 2025, to Oranga Tamariki—
Ministry for Children (Oranga Tamariki) requesting information about the Military-style
Academy. Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act).
You have requested:
A description of the morning routine rangatahi performed.
All daily schedules for the participants in the residential stage of the Military-Style
Academy trial programme. To the extent they exist, I request: (a) draft schedules;
and (b) schedules actually used. I do not request any records, schedules or
timetables relating to kaimahi.
A list which describes all physical activities the rangatahi were required to
perform, including how frequently they were performed.
A list of all cultural connection activities the rangatahi undertook, including how
frequently they were performed.
The number of occassions a guest speaker spoke to the rangatahi, as well as
the number of guest speakers who spoke to the rangatahi.
A list describing the wellness activities the rangatahi performed.
A description of the evening routine rangatahi performed.
Please note, the Military-style Academy Pilot (the Pilot) was an opportunity to test
potential elements of future iterations of Military-style Academies. Design and
development for these future academies is underway, and being informed by the
learnings and insights gained from the Pilot. Implementation of future Military-style
Academies is subject to the Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Off
ending) Amendment Bill, and programme elements may involvement a procurement
process for providers. Releasing this information would provide an unfair advantage
for parties tendering as part of this process.
As such, your request is refused in full under section 9(2)(j) of the Act to enable a
Minister of the Crown or any public service agency or organisation holding the
information to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including
commercial and industrial negotiations).
However, please note that the first preliminary evaluation of the Military-style Academy
Pilot (the Pilot), covering the assessment and residential phases, can be found
here.
In particular, Appendix One – Overview of the Programme
provides information about
the routines, schedules and activities followed by the rangatahi who took part in the
Pilot.
In addition, Oranga Tamariki has also made a significant amount of information
regarding the Pilot available on our website,
here. Previous Official Information Act
responses regarding the Military-style Academy Pilot are also being released in
tranches, and will be available on our Oranga Tamariki website
here.
Oranga Tamariki may make the information contained in this letter available to the
public by publishing this on our website with your personal details removed.
I trust you find this information useful. Should you have any concerns with this
response, I would encourage you to raise them with Oranga Tamariki. Alternatively,
you are advised of your right to also raise any concerns with the Office of the
Ombudsman. Information about this is available a
t www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
or by contacting them on 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Neil Beales
Deputy Chief Executive
Youth Justice Services and Residential Care
