The Dunedin visit by the Glenn Inquiry into family violence this week has been postponed after reports surfaced of a historical abuse charge against Sir Owen Glenn.
Sir Owen - the businessman behind the independent inquiry to investigate the child abuse and domestic violence problem in New Zealand - was accused of physically abusing a young woman in Hawaii in 2002.
Sir Owen neither admitted nor contested the charge in court and the charge was dismissed in 2004.
Inquiry secretariat Hazel Hape said the Glenn Inquiry still had momentum and the allegations were a ''road block''.
''It's just really disappointing because we were just coming through the preliminary stages of letting the public know the outcomes of our safety review, which was for the most part positive.''
The panel was scheduled to meet for four days in Dunedin from yesterday but the plans were cancelled after the ''unexpected'' abuse allegations were published on Sunday, she said.
The panel would speak to child abuse and domestic violence survivors, perpetrators and frontline workers to gain an understanding and implement change.
The Glenn Inquiry board would meet ''in the next couple of days to plan a way forward'' when the inquiry's chief executive, Kirsten Rei, had finished talks with the Glenn Family Foundation, she said.
Stopping Violence Dunedin board member Brett Gray said Sir Owen had ''put up a significant amount of money'' to find answers to a problem.
Sir Owen's failure to disclose the dismissed charge should not affect the outcome of the inquiry and he hoped the panel would reschedule a visit to Dunedin, ''because there is a real lack of significant social research in this area.''
