Government pauses Project Whetū, a proposed family violence case system

The Government has paused Project Whetū, a proposed integrated case management system meant to help agencies respond to family violence in a timely way. An integrated case management system is a shared computer system that lets several agencies manage information about the same case. RNZ reported the pause.

About $2 million had been spent on the project over two years when it was paused. In December 2025, the executive board for the Elimination of Family Violence and Sexual Violence decided to pause it. The board found there was no practicable or sustainable way to fund, host and operate the platform.

About $5.2 million was approved to be returned to the Crown following the pause.

Labour's police spokesperson, Ginny Andersen, criticised the decision and called it "an absolute shocker."

Karen Chhour, the Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence, said the technology part of Project Whetū was on pause. Non-technical elements of the work, she said, were continuing to progress.

Officials warned that without a fit-for-purpose integrated case management system, agencies lack a shared view of the information they need for triage, which is sorting cases by how urgent they are, and for risk assessment, which is judging how dangerous a situation may be.