Prison Unit Managers will now attend Parole Board hearings in a move that will enable the board to make more accurate assessments and enhance public safety, Corrections Minister Hon Judith Collins says.

"This common-sense change will go a long way towards ensuring that the Parole Board has all the information it needs to accurately assess the risk of offenders," Ms Collins says.

In the past, custodial staff would attend Parole Board hearings with a prisoner. In some instances, the custodial staff member was not familiar with the prisoner who might have been from a different unit.

Under the new system, the unit manager will attend with prisoners from his or her own unit.

"This was a pre-election commitment to ensure that the Parole Board hears all relevant information about an inmate's behaviour during their time in custody and I am pleased it has been implemented so quickly," Ms Collins says.

The change reduces the risk of the Parole Board not being made aware of all relevant information about a prisoner when making decisions on which prisoners receive parole.

"Gaps in communication represent a significant risk to public safety as we saw when the board freed Graeme Burton because it did not hear all the relevant information," Ms Collins says.

"This simple change reduces the likelihood of the type of communication breakdown that occurred when Graeme Burton was granted parole."