'Make us part of the solution': Wāhine Māori share justice system experiences with Waitangi Tribunal

Three wāhine Māori are among those who have shared their experiences, from both inside and outside the justice system, at the Waitangi Tribunal's priority inquiry into custodial remand this week.

Māori women are overrepresented throughout the justice system and remand is no exception, as of April 2026 wāhine Māori made up 69 percent of women on remand.

Custodial remand is used to describe people who are currently in prison awaiting a trial or sentence.

Director of the National Youth and Justice Coalition Awatea Mita said too many Māori were being remanded in custody not because they presented a significant risk, but because they were unable to satisfy bail accommodation requirements.

"So custodial remand essentially operates as an incredibly expensive and destructive form of social housing now, where Māori are being remanded in custody for these low-level crimes, not because they present significant risk, but maybe because they do not have compliant accommodation.

"And the sad thing is, there are a number of Māori providers who are ready and able to provide supported accommodation as an alternative, but there are limited government-funded pathways for this."

Mita said change would require more than just tinkering around the edges of the system.

"I am very loath to accept that the very institutions that are responsible for these disproportional results for Māori, these disproportionate outcomes, these inequitable outcomes for Māori, to then be in charge of the solutions, and so a more transformative approach is necessary."

Mita said leaving a record in the Waitangi Tribunal for mokopuna Māori was incredibly important to her.

"They're building prisons right now, prisons that will be ready in 2030, and that's sending a clear message to our mokopuna that this is where you're going.

"These prisons, the burden of filling them disproportionately falls on Māori communities, and we want those mokopuna to know that before it gets to that point, we were thinking about them, we were thinking about the solutions for them, that they don't have to start from zero, that they can improve on what we leave behind."

Māori said incarceration ultimately needed to be addressed by ceding penal power and adequately resourcing Māori and community, she said.

"This is more than just the devolution of service delivery via contestable funds, it's more than demanding money for sustainable pathways. If Aotearoa is serious about justice, then a shift from managing disparity to preventing it is what is needed."

Waitangi Tribunal claimant Kelly Hume was on remand for sixteen months before being found not guilty.

"It took three and a half years for me to go to trial, and I was eventually acquitted and found not guilty. So what's been raised in the hearing is that that happens to 10 percent of people that are going into remand," she said.

Hume now works to support whānau involved in the criminal justice system, including people held on remand, at Best Care Whakapai Hauora in Manawatū.

"I really care about our whānau that are still sitting in prison, especially in similar circumstances as my own, and so I still see those same things happening to them that happened to me."

More investment needed to go into prevention and rehabilitation, she said.

"There's no kind of rehabilitation while you're sitting in remand. There's also no help with reintegration when they're getting released, and so it's just creating a cycle. They're just getting out because they don't have good support, and they're reoffending and going back in."

Matilda Kahotea is the founder and director of Ngā Kete Wānanga Solutions based in Auckland, which provides wraparound support, including housing, to people on remand.

The program runs for three months, offering first a roof over their head and kai, but also helping with medical appointments, identification and licenses as well as support to deal with any addictions, she said.

"The reason I got into this kaupapa is that I followed one of my sons on his journey through the justice system. And although I found a lot there that was working, I found so much for our people particularly [those who] were falling through the cracks and their needs weren't getting met."

Kahotea said since opening in 2021 Ngā Kete Wānanga had 318 people come through its doors, only 24 of them had since gone back to prison.

However, there were currently 78 people on its waiting list and she said Māori providers wanted to be part of the solution but didn't have the resources.

"I've been through so much to be able to prove that we are able to deliver for our people. If we are part of the problem, make us part of the solution. Because we want to be, we want to be part of that solution."

The Waitangi Tribunal's inquiry continues on Thursday.