The Government has shelved a system that would have supported more "timely multi-agency responses" to family violence and alerted staff to "high-risk situations".

An Official Information Act request obtained by RNZ says the proposed integrated case management project, which had already had $2m spent on it, was paused last year "as there was no practicable or sustainable way to fund, host and operate the proposed platform".

Officials said agencies would continue with the status quo in the interim, which had several risks, including agencies lacking a shared view of information needed for "effective triage and risk assessment" and "vulnerabilities with regard to data security and information sharing".

Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour said while the technology component of the project was on pause, she had been assured non-technical elements of the "best practice operating model" for multi-agency responses continued to progress.

This included the high-risk protocol and information sharing guidance.

"The decision to pause Project Whetū has not resulted in any reduction to frontline services. This decision will be reviewed in the future and, if practical or sustainable way to host and operate the proposed platform can be found, the technology component of Project Whetū could be resumed.

"This is also subject to any directives from the Government Chief Digital Officer."

Labour's police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said the decision was "an absolute shocker".

"The Government is scrapping a project designed to help agencies identify people at risk of family violence - despite officials warning that without it, vital information cannot easily be shared.

"When agencies can't join the dots, people at risk can fall through the cracks. The consequences can be devastating. The Government should be strengthening the response to family violence. They need to explain why they are walking away."

Documents shed light on decision to pause proposed system

RNZ has obtained an OIA that was released by Chhour's office, which sheds light on decision-making related to the proposed system.

The Centre for Family Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention earlier proposed a new technology solution, Project Whetū, to "transform how agencies share information safely and appropriately to support multi-agency family violence responses".

Project Whetū aimed to introduce a case management system that would support "more effective, coordinated and timely multi-agency responses to family violence".

It would also make children "more visible to help ensure they have appropriate support in place", improve data security and "alert staff to high-risk situations".

However, in December 2025, the executive board for the Elimination of Family Violence and Sexual Violence had decided to pause the project "as there was no practicable or sustainable way to fund, host and operate the proposed platform".

At that stage $2m had been spent over two years. The board approved about $5.2m to be returned to the Crown.

In the meantime, agencies would continue to use existing systems, the OIA said.

"Officials are exploring various contingencies, including an Excel-based form. There are pros and cons to this; for now, it is the only affordable (i.e. no-cost) option."

Officials said there were risks with the status quo.

"Without a fit-for-purpose integrated case management system, agencies lack a shared view of the information needed for effective triage and risk assessment."

Agencies would also continue to rely mainly on manual processes, "which constrains efficiencies and reduces the potential return on investment".

There were also "vulnerabilities" in relation to data security and information sharing.

The technology component could be resumed if "funding prioritisation allows".