New Zealand’s plan to digitise its courts has hit the usual milestones for a government IT project that we’ve all become to used to – namely delays, cost overruns, a near-death experience and, now, a refusal to say what it all costs.
Te Au Reka (“the sweet flow”) is meant to replace a court system Justice Secretary Andrew Kibblewhite (picturred) admits runs partly on post-it notes. Users will eventually file, pay and track cases online. Although nobody disputes the need, the bill is another matter, which LawNews asked about under the OIA.
The money
When DXC Technology signed on in August 2023, Kibblewhite told Parliament the budget was about $139m capital plus $30m operating, so roughly $169m.
By November 2024, officials were telling ministers the estimate had grown, driven by licence costs, supplier costs and time. That was two months after assuring a select committee no new funding was needed. Ministers approved a bigger budget in April 2025. The public found out a year later that costs were up about 15%.
The Ministry replied four weeks late with nearly 400 pages, every budget figure redacted, including ones already public.
The excuse is “ongoing commercial negotiations.” Yet a March 2025 Cabinet paper signed by Kibblewhite and Deputy Secretary Victoria McLaughlin described those arrangements as “substantially confirmed.”
Meanwhile, Budget 2026 added another $34.1m.
The drama
The OIA documents also reveal:
- DXC found the job more complex than it had estimated, and the Ministry had to take training in-house.
- In February 2025 the Ministry considered scrapping the whole thing.
- By June 2025 the project was at Red status: off-track, intervention needed.
- Kibblewhite pushed for a September 2026 launch with one eye on the election. Independent reviewers warned against it, and the Ministry backed down.
The new timetable
- 23 November 2026: Family Court registry and judicial functions go live in Christchurch and Ashburton, with a four-month contingency built in.
- March 2027: the public courts portal launches at those sites.
- Around May 2027: the Family Court goes live nationwide.
- Second half of 2027: District Court criminal (including Youth Court) and civil jurisdictions, plus the High Court.
- 2028: the appellate courts, Environment Court, Coroners Court and Disputes Tribunal.
Kibblewhite says costs will stay within the “overarching budget parameters.” He won’t say what those parameters are. With MBIE officials recently found in contempt of Parliament over another IT fiasco, “trust us” is not a great look at this time.
Kibblewhite has linked Te Au Reka to a smaller Ministry headcount, and the Ministry declined to say how many jobs might go.
Sweet flow, perhaps. Just not of information that taxpayers might expect.
Source: LawNews (Neil Sands)
