Kiwi convicts are being turfed out by Australia in their hundreds after finishing their sentences. But lawyers and politicians say they receive little support from authorities in a country some of them barely know.

Kiwi criminals sent back from Australia have committed 737 offences between 197 of them since their return.

Their crimes, ranging from traffic, drug, and property offences to violent and sexual offending, were recorded between January 2015 and December 12, 2016 – which police say puts the reoffending rate at 21 per cent.

One "boomerang" offender had committed 20 sexual offences by July this year. Police declined to detail the case, saying they did not discuss matters before the courts.

ROBERT KITCHIN/ FAIRFAX NZ Adam Paora Tama Ikureo Drollett was deported from Australia in early 2014. On his return he committed two robberies and tried to escape from the Wellington District Court dock. He was sentenced to a total of five years and six months' jail.

Australia has been sending Kiwi ex-prisoners back since December 2014, when it changed its law to allow the expulsion of foreign nationals who had served sentences of 12 months or longer.

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It led to many people being sent back to New Zealand who had not lived here since infancy.

FAIRFAX NZ Corrections says it is coping with the influx of Kiwi offenders, though there are "occasionally" delays in assessing them.

Their arrivals peaked last month, with 30 newcomers. In that same month, 50 returned offenders committed 81 offences, according to police figures released under the Official Information Act.

Labour corrections spokesman Kelvin Davis said many of them were not being given enough support by either Australia or New Zealand to reintegrate into a country where they sometimes knew nobody.

"They are absolutely being dumped in New Zealand, and are being left to go for it."

ASSESSMENT FAILINGS

Wellington lawyer Douglas Ewen said he had worked with eight returning offenders, most who had not lived in New Zealand since childhood.

"In my experience, the various assessments that need to be done to identify what things this person needs have not been done.

"And by the time the court has to impose these conditions ... the court doesn't have it, so how can we ask the judge to deal with it?"

Judges instead had to rely on Australian sentencing and parole reports that were sometimes years old, Ewen said.

In the year to November 2016, 290 offenders had returned from Australia and other countries, Corrections figures show.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

When they arrive, most are subject to 30-day interim orders restricting their movements. Laws passed by Parliament under urgency in November last year also give police powers to ask for a deportee's name, address, biographical information, and sometimes fingerprints and DNA.

Special Corrections teams meet the offenders on arrival to explain the interim order, along with giving them health and social support advice.

Once the order expires, deportees get a special conditions hearing with a judge who can make parole-like orders, lasting up to five years – such as barring them from drinking, or being near children.

To make the special conditions orders, judges are meant to get reports dealing with issues behind their offending, such as mental health and addiction problems.

"OCCASIONAL" DELAYS

Corrections deputy national commissioner Rachel Leota said Corrections was coping, but conceded there were "occasionally" delays in assessing offenders.

"It is not always possible to do this within the period of time between their arrival and the court hearing for final special conditions (usually a period of 30 working days). However, this does not occur on a regular basis."

Before the November 2015 legislation came into effect, deported ex-prisoners' reoffending rates were much higher, she said, and Corrections previously had no jurisdiction to monitor them.

Corrections Minister Louise Upston said on Friday: "I am pleased that, since the Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Bill was passed last November, the reoffending rates among deported offenders has halved.

"The law also provided Corrections with the tools to manage these offenders, and I am satisfied the department has the resources to do this.

"There will always be some people who will reoffend, but it is important to note that many offenders deported to New Zealand have served their sentences and don't go on to reoffend."



BOOMERANG CRIMINALS

* Returning sex offender Jason Mark Gibbons threatened to torch the Christchurch's Probation Service's offices after being told that working in a clothing store was not appropriate. He had served four years' jail in Australia, and had not lived in New Zealand for 20 years before he was deported.

* Amiee Niwa had been back from Australia for a matter of months, and was being monitored under the Returning Offenders Act, when she stole a bag of nearly $4000 cash from a New Plymouth bar in April this year. She had also broken into a house, and stolen petrol from two service stations. .

* Adam Drollett, a convicted robber deported from Australia, was robbing banks in Wellington and Auckland within six weeks of returning to New Zealand. When he was brought to Wellington District Court to face charges in December 2015, he kicked a Corrections officer and punched a policeman as he vaulted the dock and tried to escape. His lawyer told the court Drollett had not lived in New Zealand since he was three, and when he returned was given no support or information about life and services here.