With more prisoners in New Zealand than ever, a defence lawyer argues for more rehab options for those awaiting sentencing.

The Sentencing Act gives the court the ability to delay sentencing for any offence to allow completion of a rehabilitation programme. From my own experience as a criminal defence lawyer, the court will normally grant this (pending a few other considerations) if provided with written confirmation of a place (bed) in a rehab and a clear connection between substance abuse and the offending. 

People awaiting sentence are either on bail in the community, or, if the court doesn’t grant them bail, they’re held in prison (on remand).  People can’t get bail for all sorts of reasons, but sometimes it’s because they have no suitable address (often due to lack of family support). 

Anecdotally, around 70% of my clients have some form of substance abuse issue. Although this may be a conservative estimate, as the 2023-2024 Annual Corrections Report indicates 87% of people in prison have an identified alcohol or other drug disorder.

Meth addiction has risen, A LOT. Many of my clients’ offending is driven by meth, either directly or indirectly  – most wish they could stop, but don’t know how. 

The average cost of holding someone on remand is $437 per day. The same as a 2-3 star hotel. And our remand population has recently soared. Most of our prisons were built to house a total of 15% remanded prisoners. But now, remand prisoners make up  43% of the men’s and 59% of the women’s prison population. 

To my best knowledge, Auckland has three purpose-built, audited, public residential rehab services, with the honourable mention of Wings Trust, who provide excellent pre-and post-treatment support from these three rehabs. Of these, one (Odyssey) will take people straight from remand. The other two, Higher Ground/Papa Tuamata (outstanding programme) and The Salvation Bridge Programme (The Bridge has three residential programmes: Mt Eden, Waitākere and Manukau), along with Wings, will take people who are already on bail. I get this, people on bail can self-refer, suggesting a stronger motivation; this also cuts the risk of people just looking for an address to get bail. 

Odyssey has 40 beds for men and 10 beds for women in its main adult stream, dealing with alcohol and drug addiction. In addition, Odyssey also has Te Wairua, a dual diagnosis programme (which deals with both addiction and mental health).  Te Wairua has two houses, each with 18 beds. Odyssey offers an effective, intensive 9-12 months treatment in the adult stream and up to 24 months in Te Waiora.

Grace Foundation has no restrictions on entry, taking our most marginalised people with substance issues – gang members, children without family, people on bail, those serving community-based sentences and parole. They have approximately 80 community men’s homes mainly in South Auckland, which provide housing following release from prison, some support for alcohol and drug addiction, homelessness and more. Grace Foundation also has a women’s house with approximately 20 double bedrooms. 

In my experience, Odyssey and Grace Foundation typically have waitlists of around three months. 

As of June 2025, Corrections stats show 1,129 men on remand at Mt Eden Correctional Facility and 267 women on remand at Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility. 

If 87% of these men (982) and women (232) have substance abuse issues, and around 25% of these 87% want help, then 246 men and 58 women may be seeking a rehab or pre-treatment at any given time. 

I got sober on July 22, 2009 when I was 24. While I was in residential rehab, there were a few people on bail awaiting sentence – they were some of the most motivated people there. A few of them still received a prison sentence but stayed clean and re-joined the recovery community on release. 

Some clients recognise addiction has driven their offending but are not ready to accept help, where others are pretty desperate and ready for change. 

Sam* was in prison on remand. He had a limited criminal history but a long string of recent property-related offending, all driven by meth addiction. He was looking at a sentence of imprisonment and could not be assessed for the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court, (AODTC) as he had not previously lived within the requisite catchment area.

Sam had little family and consequently no suitable bail address. He was motivated to attend rehab, and for months, called me multiple times a week from prison, patiently requesting an assessment update. I tried other options during this time, but no one had custody beds available.

Sam was assessed three and a half months later, two days before his sentencing. 

It would take another two or so weeks for further medical checks to be completed and a bed to be offered. The court warned that no further adjournments could be granted unless a confirmation letter from a rehab was provided ahead of sentencing, confirming a bed offer. We weren’t able to provide a confirmation letter.  

He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. The energetic motivation he’d consistently demonstrated will likely dwindle, as he has no frame of reference or connection to recovery. Even if he’d completed rehab and still served a prison sentence, at least he’d have a plethora of recovery community support on release, allowing a better chance of staying in recovery (and not reoffending).

The issue seems worse for women. Jamie* has been on remand for almost three months. She has a limited criminal history, with a string of lower-level dishonesty offences. She wants treatment and has no available bail address or family support. After making enquiries, I’m told no beds are likely available till around December. 

I know the lack of beds is challenging for all involved. Everyone is genuinely trying their absolute best to get people in – this is a resource issue, nothing else. The demand tremendously outweighs the supply. 

Te Whare Whakapiki Wairua, Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court (AODTC)  was opened in 2012. Developed on evidence-based best-practice, the court aims to break the cycle of offending by dealing with the underlying cause. The court is hard work and provides intensive judicial monitoring, case management, regular drug testing, restorative justice, peer mentoring and comprehensive engagement with treatment programmes and rehabilitation support services. The process is approximately 18-24 months and is only available to people looking at an end sentence of imprisonment no longer than three years.

An ImpactLab GoodMeasure report released in Oct 2022, found the social return on investment to be $2 for every $1 invested in AODTC. That’s a $200% return on investment, and apparently a pretty light estimate. 

The report found other direct outcomes included:

• Reduced addiction, offending, victimisation, risky behaviour, family violence, and smoking. 
• Improved mental and physical health; and
• Increase in employment and driver licencing.

What is needed for actual change

For those who qualify, AODTC provides measurable and superior outcomes. Aotearoa currently has an AODTC in Waitakere District Court, Auckland District Court and Hamilton District Court. In my opinion, we need one in Manukau and in all other centres in Aotearoa, particularly the North Island, where meth use is highest per capita. However, and crucially, we would need more public residential rehabs to support an AODTC rollout, and/or our existing rehabs need more beds. 

Creating pre- and post-treatment bail houses exclusively focused on the needs of people bailed from remand who demonstrate the necessary motivation for rehab, would directly help those who fall through the cracks, especially women.  The houses would need ample, evidence-based support (including cultural and mental health), 24/7 staff, drug testing and strong boundaries. After approximately two months there would be a requisite pathway to a residential rehab. 

Connection is the antithesis of addiction, specifically connection with a recovery community (in the actual community). In early recovery, I was told you become like the five people you spend the most time with. Engaging in rehab in the community allows for long-term, recovery-focused, pro-social connections to be established through recovery meetings and the like.

In my experience,  it’s these peer connections that keep us clean, sober and sane. 

Elizabeth Cracroft, a criminal defence lawyer and the creator/producer of the theatre show REHAB, on now at the PumpHouse for its seventh season (22-25 October). Buy tickets here.