In this, the final episode of the TIAKI podcast series, we recap the main findings of TIAKI and kōrero about some of the changes we recommend to improve the outcomes for Māori released from prisons and for their whānau.
Kaupapa Māori rangahau is not just about knowledge for knowledge’s sake. And with TIAKI we have aimed to be empowering, uplifting, and transformative for whānau. While the focus of this episode is on ‘non-reformist reforms’ that the government can implement immediately, we also recognise the rangatiratanga of whānau who experience the intergenerational harms of prisons. As we saw and heard throughout TIAKI – many solutions already sit with these whānau and communities.
The recommendations covered in this episode address the wider determinants of health, the health and disability sector, data and monitoring.
When it comes to the wider determinants of health our recommendations include better housing support for people leaving prisons (including better support for people being held on remand) and more opportunities for training and support into employment. This support is best when it comes from Kaupapa Māori providers and providers with expertise working with tāngata whaikaha Māori (Māori with lived experience of disability).
Listen to episode 6
In this episode we especially consider the Steps to Freedom Grant: $350 that is available to (some) people who are released from prison. The Steps to Freedom Grant is administered by the Ministry of Social Development. The amount available under the Steps to Freedom Grant hasn’t increased since 1991, and what’s more it’s inadequate to cover the kinds of things people returning to communities from prisons actually need. Our final zine goes into the Steps to Freedom Grant in more depth.
Our health and disability sector recommendations start with the prison health service. Very little is known about the quality of services inside prison, but we know that it has – in the words of government officials “numerous challenges”. We recommend work is undertaken to scope a new delivery model, improve the quality of health services in prison, and improve our ability to monitor the quality of those services.
For community health services, we make recommendations about Primary Health Organisation funding, to improve access to this important set of health services for whānau who are released from prisons.
Our research also shows that whānau prefer to work with Kaupapa Māori services – but the ongoing underfunding of these services could add further to the difficulties whānau leaving prison face in accessing the care they most need. There are, however, some positive examples to share. Cheryl Davies (co-lead for TIAKI) talks about the social investment funding that Tū Kotahi, Kōkiri Marae, and their wonderful partners have been selected for by the Social Investment Agency.
The final group of recommendations is around data. Improving the quality of the data collected by Corrections (and other justice agencies) so that it follows the government’s own ethnicity data standards is an important starting point. But we also recommend data is selected that supports an intersectional analysis – such as data relevant to tāngata whaikaha Māori (Māori with lived experience of disability) and fit-for-purpose gender data that is relevant for takatāpui Māori.
In the podcast we also discuss remand data, which gives us cause for concern as it appears Corrections has recently changed the way it reports this data. And of course we talk about Māori Data Sovereignty.
The supporting zine for this week’s episode is about the Steps to Freedom Grant, administered by MSD. The zine is based on research by Autumn Tahere and Gabrielle Baker on how much it actually costs to set yourself up after release from prison. The illustrations in this zine are by Gabrielle Baker.
We also have a policy paper that we are releasing with this episode. The policy paper provides more detail on the recommendations discussed in episode 6 of the pod. It was written by Gabrielle Baker, Associate Professor Dr Paula Toko King, Associate Professor Ruth Cunningham, and Cheryl Davies. The cover design is by Jordan Tane.
No generative AI was used in the creation of the zine or any part of the TIAKI podcast.
Download our policy paper or a text-only word document version
This episode was hosted by Paula Toko King and Gabrielle Baker and features segments from interviews with Professor Tracey McIntosh, Professor Carwyn Jones, and Cheryl Davies.
The podcast was edited by Gabrielle Baker.
The podcast music – ‘He kōrero nui tō ngākau’/Your heart has an important story’ was composed by Paula Toko King and Nona King. Taonga puoro, piano soundboard, and piano performed by Paula Toko King and Nona King. Additional bird calls by korimako and pīwakawaka. The music was also recorded by Snow Chase.
TIAKI publicatons
Cunningham, R., King, P. T., Telfer, K., Crengle, S.,Carr, J., Stanley, J., Gibb, S., & Robson, B. (2022). Mortality after release from incarceration in New Zealand by gender: A national record linkagestudy. SSM – Population Health, 20, 101274. Link here
King, P. T., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., McLeod, M.,Harris, R., Davies, C., Cormack, D., Ingham, T., Jones, B., Robson, B., Paki Paki, N., Baker, G., Tuari-Toma, B., Stairmand, J., Cole, M., Pehi, T., Carr,J., Kemp, C., Chin, M. H., & Cunningham, R. (2025). The undercounting of Indigenous Māori imprisoned by the New Zealand carceral state: A national record study. Health & Justice, 13, 48. Link here
King, P. T., Petrović-vander Deen, F. S., Davies, C., Robson, B., Crengle, S., Baker, G., Carr, J., Paki Paki, N., Pehi, T., Cole, M., Jones, B., Ingham, T., Stairmand, J., Tuari-Toma,B., Kemp, C., Chin, M. H., & Cunningham, R. (2025a). Health in justice or health injustice? Indigenous Māori experiences of primary care following release from New Zealand prisons: A national record study. Social Science & Medicine, 384, 118543. Link here
King, P. T., Paki Paki, N.,Cormack, D., Davies, C., Timutimu, R., Baker, G., Ingham, T., Jones, B., Cole, M., & Kemp, C. (2026). Poipoia Te Kākano Kia Puāwai: The operationalisation of Māori Data Sovereignty in Aotearoa—A scoping literature review. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 56, e70029. Link here
Lian, A., Cunningham, R., Petrović-van der Deen, F. S., Robson, B., Davies, C., & King, P. T. (2026). COVID-19 vaccination coverage in people released from prison in Aotearoa New Zealand between 1 June and 31 December 2021 [Manuscript submitted for publication]. Department of Public Health, University of Otago.
Malinowski, N. E. (2024). Emergency department use in the 12 months post-release for Māori and non-Māori incarcerated in Aotearoa New Zealand [Master's thesis, University of Otago]. OUR Archive. Link here
Other references
Cormack, D., & Kukutai, T. (2022). Indigenous peoples, data, and the coloniality of surveillance. In A. Hepp, J. Jarke, & L. Kramp (Eds.), New perspectives in critical data studies: The ambivalences of data power (pp. 121–141). Palgrave Macmillan. Link here
King, P. T. (2019). Māori with lived experience of disability: Part I (Wai 2575, #B22). Waitangi Tribunal. Link here
Love, T., Moore, D., Milkop, A., Woon, L., Young, M., & Comendant, C. (2021). Methodology for estimating the underfunding of Māori primary health care. Sapere Research Group. Link here
Mills, A., Terry, A., Lindsay Latimer, C., & Milne, B. (2022). Going straight home? Post-prison housing experiences and the role of stable housing in reducing reoffending in Aotearoa New Zealand. COMPASS, University of Auckland. Link here
Office of the Auditor-General. (2026). Department of Corrections: Planning for stable housing outcomes (B.29[26c]). Link here
Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora – Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group. (2019). Turuki! Turuki! Move together! Transforming our criminal justice system: The second report of Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora – Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group. Link here
Waitangi Tribunal. (2023). Hauora: Report on stage one of the Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry (Wai 2575, 2023 ed.). Link here
Waitangi Tribunal. (2026). Hauwhaikaha: The disability system report: Phase one, stage two of the Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry (Wai 2575, pre-publication version). Link here
Walter, M. (2018). The voice of Indigenous data: Beyond the markers of disadvantage. Griffith Review, 60, 256–263. Link here
