The Government is being urged to increase the amount of money it gives prisoners when they are released - if it wants them to stay out of jail.

The head of an advisory group on justice reforms said a payment of just $350 was setting prisoners up to fail, and many of them couldn't even access it.

The group wants to double the payment as well as providing a photo ID so they can access the money. 

Chester Borrows, a former National Party Minister and chair of the Safe and Effective Justice Programme Advisory Group, told Mike Yardley, poor support was a major factor contributing to a high rate of reoffending.

Currently, 60 per cent of prisoners are re-convicted within two years of release.

He said the Government needs to make it easier for prisoners to access their money.

"We have people locked up in prison for who knows, might be months, might be years and when they get out of prison, their biggest barrier to getting money into their bank accounts, so they can start living with a crime-free lifestyle is that they can't open a bank account without identification and frequently they might not have identification." 

"The Government has got their birth certificate, its got their fingerprints, their photo and their DNA and yet the government doesn't give them one."

Prisoners who don't have photo ID are faced with another hurdle to deal with.

 "It's a ridiculous situation for them to be in when the Government owns all that information and could provide it, let's face it - it's their information."

He said without ID prisoners don't have any money which makes it extremely hard to survive.

"You then can't access money so what do you do?" 

Borrows also said the $350 given to them isn't enough for them to survive on for the two weeks until the benefit kicks in.

"You come out of prison and you can't access any money until you have got a bank account. So you go and seek some help...but it could be days or weeks to get that information and you have to pay money upfront but you don't have the money upfront."

"If you're going to be released and you're expected to find accommodation, you need enough money to pay a week's rent or board or something, there may even be a bond required."

"Then you need to keep yourself in food and you have got to get yourself back home frequently if you've been moved from one prison to another." 

The group will make recommendations to the Government to improve the criminal justice system - described by Justice Minister Andrew Little as "broken" - in an interim report in March, and a final report in August.

Little told the Herald he looked forward to the reports, but agreed that released prisoners needed more support.

He said he would consider any advice that would help reduce the "ridiculously high" reoffending rate.

"It's been a familiar piece of feedback that post-release support is inadequate for a lot of prisoners.

"We've got to do a lot better. It's not just about putting money in someone's hands. It's about making sure they know where to go and how they access it. Another critical element is housing, and we know there has been an inadequacy of supply of housing for post-release prisoners."

Little said giving photo ID to every released prisoner seemed to be "a simple and easy idea, and something we could do that helps them get their lives sorted out".

The Safe and Effective Justice Programme Advisory Group held a justice summit last year, and is currently holding public meetings nationwide to hear ideas about improving the system.