Sir Robert Kinsela Workman (born ), commonly known as Kim Workman, is a New Zealand criminal justice advocate.

Career

Following the Dawn Raids, Workman resigned as a senior sergeant in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

police force over his opposition to the racism displayed in the police response. He served as

Families Commission The Social Policy Research and Evaluation Unit, known as Superu and previously known as the Families Commission, was an autonomous New Zealand Crown entity which undertook social science research and advocated to government on behalf of famili ...

er between 2008 and 2011, having previously been the national director of Prison Fellowship New Zealand. Workman has been a long-time advocate of prisoners' rights and for reform in the criminal justice system: he founded the Robson Hanan Trust, which is responsible for the Rethinking Crime and Punishment strategy, and was also the founder of JustSpeak, a youth network seeking changes in the criminal justice system, in 2011. From 2012 to 2013, he was a member of board of the Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Trust, and in 2013 he was appointed as an adjunct research fellow at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

's Institute of Criminology. In March 2021, he was appointed chair of an independent research panel investigating unconscious bias in New Zealand Police.

Honours

In the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours, Workman was named a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

, for services to prisoner welfare. In the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Workman was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

, for services to prisoner welfare and the justice sector. Workman has been conferred honorary Doctor of Literature degrees by both Victoria University of Wellington (2016) and Massey University (2017). He was named Senior New Zealander of the Year at the 2018

New Zealander of the Year Awards The New Zealander of the Year Awards, currently known as the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards, celebrate the achievements of New Zealanders and were founded in 2010 by Australian Jeffrey Hopp, Jeffrey John Hopp. Nominations are accepted ...

Personal life

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

descent, Workman affiliates to

Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Ngāti Kahungunu people New Zealand public servants Prison reformers Social justice activists Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand criminologists Companions of the Queen's Service Order Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit 1940s births {{NewZealand-law-bio-stub