The Ministry of Justice launched an online portal called “Justice Datalab” which aims to make the 2013 Justice Sector Annual Report more accessible to the public.

According to an official statement, the Justice Datalab is an initiative which will give the public full transparency on the main statistics relating to the performance of the justice sector. It allows users to analyse conviction and sentencing statistics and search the Ministry’s vast research and evaluation collection.

“Much of the information currently available about crime and safety trends is situated across various sources and may be hard to find, access, and compile. With the new tool in place, all that information is made available through one website, in a form which is easy to understand and where crime and safety trends can be easily identified,” says Justice Minister Judith Collins.

“Datalab will be a useful tool for students, journalists and other members of the public to research based on many variables such as the region or type of offence and create graphics displaying results and trends.”

The Minister added that Datalab is a practical addition to the current pool of justice sector initiatives outlined in the recently released 2013 Justice Sector Annual Report.

“Crime in New Zealand is at a 33 year low and the Justice sector is on track to meet, if not exceed, all of its Better Public Services targets by 2017.”

“The report shows that since June 2011, the total crime rate has fallen 13 per cent, the violent crime rate has fallen 9 per cent, the reoffending rate has fallen 11.4 per cent and the youth crime rate has fallen 22 per cent.”

“The sector will continue to build on these results, seeking innovative and effective ways to better support vulnerable people and families, tackle the causes of crime and stop people – particularly young people – from entering a life of crime.”

“The new Datalab tool will allow New Zealanders to see first-hand this progress we are making and increase transparency and confidence in the Justice sector”.