Some of Australasia's leading experts on imprisonment and justice are to debate the issues as New Zealand looks for new approaches to incarceration.

Māori Party MP Rahui Katene will be joined by internationally respected criminologists Professors John Pratt and Chris Cunneen at a Victoria University-hosted symposium on imprisonment in the 21st century on 17 March.

Victoria University Professor John Pratt is one of New Zealand's leading criminologists, and a frequent commentator on imprisonment issues. He says New Zealand faces some major challenges.

"Over the past 10 years crime has generally gone down, or stabilised, yet our prison population has nearly doubled, at colossal expense. Four new prisons were built by the last government at a cost of a billion dollars, and this government is planning to build a new prison as well."

Professor Pratt will speak about imprisonment in Scandinaviawhich has some of the lowest imprisonment and crime rates in the worldand the lessons to be learnt from their social welfare approach to offenders.

Professor Chris Cunneen is the Professor in Justice and Social Inclusion at James Cook University, Queensland. He is currently Chief Investigator on a large Australian Research Council project called 'Australian Prison Project'. He will discuss some of Australia's pressing imprisonment issues and how they relate to New Zealand, including the incarceration of indigenous peoples.

The overrepresentation of Māori in the prison system is a key concern for New Zealand and Rahui Katene will provide some insights into the Māori party's perspective on what can be done to address this.

The event is being organised by the Institute of Criminology, with the aim of bringing together academics, politicians, public servants, and members of the public to discuss key issues in relation to the imprisonment of offenders in New Zealand, and consider some of the challenges related to contemporary imprisonment practices.

What: Symposium: Imprisonment in the 21st Century

Where: Hunter Council Chamber, Hunter Building, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade

When: 17 March, 2010, 4-6pm

No RSVP required