RNZ has reported on five staff at Corrections who face unrelated allegations.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Corrections carried out “assurance checks” of staff access to HR records, as well as an IT search, after concerns were raised that personal information may have been leaked to the media.
The checks follow a series of articles by RNZ in relation to allegations against five senior staff at the department.
In response to questions from RNZ, Corrections deputy chief executive people and capability Rebecca Powell said the department had a “duty of care” to ensure private information about staff was managed in accordance with the Privacy Act and that staff knew they could raise any concerns in confidence.
“In recent months, we have had concerns raised by some complainants that their personal information has been the subject of media queries. Other staff have also expressed concerns about the sharing of their and other’s private employment information.
“In order to provide assurance to impacted staff that we had managed their personal information appropriately, we carried out checks to ensure that only authorised staff had access to our HR records and completed an IT search to confirm that no personal information had been inappropriately distributed externally, with nothing found.”
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Asked if the work undertaken was an investigation, Corrections said it would describe it as “assurance checks, not an investigation”.
Since March, RNZ has reported on five staff at Corrections who face unrelated allegations.
RNZ earlier revealed deputy chief executive Leigh Marsh was under investigation over allegations of bullying.
It was then revealed another deputy chief executive’s behaviour was being assessed in relation to the “tone and instructions” contained in a Microsoft Teams message. The same deputy chief had earlier apologised to another staffer about how they spoke to them.
Concerns were also raised about another deputy chief executive at Corrections.
The concerns related to leadership, governance and decision making within a business group.
Two senior staff who work in Pae Ora at Mt Eden prison are also under investigation.
The two cases are separate matters and do not relate to each other. Neither person is at an executive level.
Corrections earlier confirmed one person had been placed on alternative duties outside of the workplace following an allegation of sexual harassment.
The other staffer had been suspended following allegations from multiple internal and external sources of bullying and harassment.
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