Dozens of jobs on the line as Justice and Corrections look to cut duplication

The Ministry of Justice and the Department of Corrections are looking at combining two of their teams.

Currently the inter-agency Sector Directorate comes under the Ministry of Justice, while the High Impact Innovation Programme (HIIP) is housed within Corrections.

“These two teams have increasingly worked together over the past few years on key justice sector initiatives,” Sector Directorate executive director Erin Judge said.

“Today the Ministry of Justice and Corrections began formally consulting staff on proposed changes which would see the two teams disestablished, and one new combined team based at the Ministry of Justice established.

There were 68 positions proposed for disestablishment across both teams (21 in Sector Directorate and 47 in HIIP).

Of these, 14 were already vacant (five at Sector Directorate and nine at HIIP).

Under the proposal announced today, there will be 25 positions available in the new combined team, which will come in under the Ministry of Justice.

“Our Sector Directorate and HIIP teams are small teams of dedicated people and we fully appreciate these proposed changes will create uncertainty for them,” Judge said.

“The aim of the proposed changes is to reduce duplication and ensure the justice sector is clear and focused on our key priorities of achieving better outcomes for victims, improving timely justice, and supporting the delivery of the government’s law and order priorities.”

Consultation was expected to end on 19 July, with the final decision made in August.

The public service has shed more than 6000 jobs since the new government took over last year.