Our mission is to honour local and international voices from industry, academia and community to illuminate the causes and control of violence in New Zealand's prison spaces.
To find out about our events, email saferprisons@waikato.ac.nz and ask to be added to our mailing list.
View the proceedings from our previous symposia below.
Symposia Information
Our 2025 symposium, Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa VI, was held on 24th November, 2025. Yet another successful full day event, with close to 400 registrants. Our ten featured presenters were -
- Leigh Marsh
- Ben Clark
- Joanne Harrex
- Scott Walker
- Jim Watson
- Tayla Yandall
- Joseph Tupou
- Professor Michael Daffern
- Chris Eastham
- Professor Ian Lambie
A PDF of the full 2025 proceedings will be made available in due course.
Contact saferprisons@waikato.ac.nz for any questions.
Our 2024 symposium, 'Ko T奴 Koe? Ko Rongo Koe?' Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa V, was held on 25th November, 2024. Yet another successful full day event, with over 400 attendees. Our ten featured presenters were -
- Professor Nancy Rodriguez
- Alicia Clifford
- Chantel Huel
- Scott Walker
- Kim Smith
- Kym Grierson
- Jacky Howcutt
- Renee Clarkson
- Dr Katherine McLachlan
- Paula Ormsby
with an opening address from Hon Mark Mitchell.
PDF of the full 2024 proceedings 'Ko T奴 Koe? Ko Rongo Koe?' Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa V
Our 2023 symposium, Te Pakari: Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa IV, was held on 27th November, 2023. This was another successful full day event, with over 300 attendees. Our eight featured presenters were -
- David Cooke
- Kris Gledhill
- Samantha Taaka
- Paul Dennehy
- Mate Webb and Vikki Demant
- Denis O'Reilly
with an opening address from Jeremy Lightfoot.
PDF of the full 2023 proceedings: Te Pakari Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa IV.
Our 2022 symposium, Te Taipitopito: Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa III, was held on 28th November, 2022. This was a successful full day event, with over 400 registered attendees and 10 speakers. The speakers were:
- Lorraine Johnstone
- Nick J. Wilson
- Nicola Brennan-Tupara
- Abi Clarke
- Liam Membery
- Abby Rhodes
- Robert Henry
- Harry Tam
- Jennifer Galouzis
- Damian White
with an opening address from Peter Boshier.
PDF of the full 2022 proceedings: Te Taipitopito: Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa III.
Our 2021 symposium, Te Whanake: Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa II, was held on 7th December, 2021. This was another successful full day event, featuring 10 speakers:
- Neil Campbell
- Sofie 脴stergaard Jaspers
- Lars Brabyn and Randy Grace
- Emma Roebuck
- Brad Peebles
- Armon Tamatea
- Edward 鈥楾imo鈥� Gardiner, Karl Goldsbury and Colin 鈥楤aldy鈥� Kiriona
with an opening address from Hon. Kelvin Davis.
PDF of the full 2021 proceedings: Te Whanake: Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa II.
Our inaugural symposium, Te T奴膩papa Whakaharatau Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa, was held on 7th December, 2020. Our first full day event was a huge success and featured 10 speakers:
- T膩 Kim Workman
- Neil Beales
- Janis Adair
- Beven Hanlon
- Arrin Clark
- Rue Jade Morgan
- Devon Polaschek, Michael Daffern, Andrew Day with Armon Tamatea
PDF of the full 2020 proceedings: Te T奴膩papa Whakaharatau Understanding Prison Violence in Aotearoa.