Criminals owe their victims $80 million

Crime victims are owed more than $80 million in reparations - a 33 per cent jump in three years.

Ministry of Justice figures show 60,000 victims were owed $80.5 million of court-ordered reparation at October 30 last year - an average of about $1300 each.

The latest figure compares with $64.4 million owed in 2006 and $59.2 million in 2005.

But while the amount of reparations imposed is increasing, the amount collected is also on the rise.

In the 12 months to July last year, the Department for Courts collected $20.4 million - up 22 per cent from three years before. In the four months to October last year, $7.1 million had been collected.

Courts Minister Georgina Te Heuheu said the figure owed was a reflection of the amount of reparation being imposed by judges.

"Imposing reparation is an entirely judicial matter which we have no say over," she said. "Increased use of reparation by judges has contributed to the value that is owed but to balance this, the amount collected is going up and that is a must."

She said a lot of hard work had gone in during the past year to ensure the trend continued.

"Taking money from people who don't want to give it is not the easiest task ... but we are continually improving our game."

But Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said New Zealand needed to adopt reparation systems that worked in countries such as Australia, which he said had a 97 per cent collection rate from criminals.

"The thing is over there they have a separate collection agency that actually goes out and makes sure that reparation is paid," he said.

"The offenders actually have to sit in the cells until somebody comes up with a reparation - it could be a family member or a friend. It acts like a bail bond system in a lot of countries and it obviously works."

He said the increase in reparations owed was "horrific" but not surprising.

"The offender only has to allege he's been hard done by and can't afford it or whatever and they don't have to pay, but they do get a discount on their sentence simply by making the gesture that they'll pay the reparation.

"The message has to be clear from the justice system that it means what it says, because if it's not the offenders are going to laugh all the way to the bank as they are."

Victim Support chief executive Tony Paine also said the system was letting victims down.

"It's an unacceptably high amount and, as always, the victim will be left out of pocket. Ultimately it erodes people's faith in the justice system. They're not getting what they're entitled to. Things are getting better but we can't let the ball drop."

The Courts and Criminal Matters Bill, which was due to be introduced at the end of last year, aims to improve courts' ability to collect unpaid reparation by affecting offenders' credit ratings.

Ministry figures show most reparation is paid to victims within four years - 72 per cent at the end of September last year.

The earliest unpaid reparation dates back to 1974.