Paremoremo Prison, north of Auckland, is the country's only maximum security prison.

The man accused of the Christchurch mosque shooting is not allowed access to newspapers or TV and radio - depriving him of the ability to read about the atrocity.

On top of the media ban, he is also held in segregation under 24-hour surveillance, and no visitors have been approved to see him.

Authorities will not reveal where the accused is being held while he awaits his next court appearance in Christchurch, except to say that it's in a "specialist security facility".

Stuff understands the accused is being held in Auckland where the country's only maximum security prison is located, 25km north of the city centre.

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Auckland Prison at Paremoremo is home to the country's most violent offenders.

Corrections said they worked with "other agencies" to transfer the prisoner from Christchurch.

Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis declined to answer questions about how the accused was being held on Tuesday.

"I'm not going to go into any operational things. You've got to remember that the safety of Corrections officers is most paramount and I'm not going to say anything to jeopardise that."

Maximum Security

A new 260-place wing at the prison, costing $300 million, was opened in July last year.

Built under a public-private partnership deal, it includes the country's first "sensory garden" for inmates.

The prison is home to many of the country's most notorious criminals, and those serving some of the longest sentences.

CHRIS SKELTON/STUFF Malcolm Rewa has been at Paremoremo since 1998.

The serial rapist, and now convicted murderer, Malcolm Rewa is behind bars there.

He is serving a sentence of 22 years for rapes and sexual attacks against 25 women.

Rewa is due to be sentenced for Susan Burdett's murder next week.

The prison is also where William Bell is serving the country's longest sentence - life in prison with a 30-year minimum term - for the murder of three staff at the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA in 2001.

Liam Reid is also there. He's serving preventive detention for the rape and murder of 20-year-old Christchurch woman Emma Agnew and the subsequent rape and attempted murder of a young Dunedin woman.

Unknown Liam Reid while on trial in 2009 at the Christchurch High Court.

It's also the site where Reid later went on to marry former lawyer Davina Murray.

Graham Burton is also serving his sentence inside the walls of the prison. He's serving a life sentence with a non-parole period of 26 years for the shooting of Karl Kuchenbecker.

He's also been sentenced to preventive detention for an attack on a senior gang member inside the prison, in December 2008

The convicted double-murderer was last year found guilty of another murder attempt, this time of a fellow inmate at the prison - Head Hunters gang member Dwayne Marsh - in December 2008.

Insider's guide

No one knows the inside of a cell at Auckland Prison better than Arthur Taylor.

He is one of New Zealand's longest-serving prisoners and was released from jail in February.

The 62-year-old has spent the better part of 40 years behind bars.

He told Stuff the accused would be living a "lonely, monotonous existence" while in custody.

CHRIS MCKEEN/STUFF Arthur Taylor spent the best part of the last 40 years in prison before being released in February.

"This guy has nothing brilliant to look forward to... he'll eat to survive," Taylor said.

"I don't think he's going to enjoy it."

He will most likely be in solitary confinement.

"In the at-risk unit, he's locked up for pretty much the whole day ... They [aren't] even allowed books," Taylor said.

"It's a pretty barren existence... [you] have to use polystyrene cups to shovel [food] into your mouth. He'll have no contact, only with staff, he'll literally be in solitary."

In terms of the menu, Taylor summed up the cuisine with one word - "crap".

"On Sunday, you get a small pie and potato that's not even mashed...it would put the worst service station pie to shame," Taylor said.

"You get 11 pieces of bread a day and the best meat is sausages and they're not very good quality," he said.

According to Corrections, the department budgets $5.60 a day per prisoner and the menu changes day-to-day.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF The man accused of the Christchurch terrorist attack will be subject to 24-hour observation and separated from other prisoners.

The meals are prepared by prisoners working in the prison kitchens.

An example provided by Corrections has breakfast consisting of two Weet-Bix with milk, three slices of toast with spread and tea.

Lunch is three sandwiches, a piece of fruit and tea, while dinner is meat or fish, two vegetables and a piece of fruit with tea, followed by supper of two slices of buttered bread.

Segregation at Paremoremo

As of Monday, the prison held 587 inmates but Corrections couldn't say how many were being held in segregation.

Those in segregation are allowed out of their cells for at least an hour everyday and are monitored by security cameras and/ or staff.

However, not all segregated prisoners are managed in the same way.

Segregation can be used for prisoners at risk from others, who pose a risk to others or themselves.

They have an individual management plan that determines what type of cell they are accommodated and what they have in their cell.