This study screened 367 female breast cancer patients in New Zealand for risk-associated variants in the familial breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1, BRCA2, CDH1, PALB2, PTEN and TP53. Thirteen patients (3.5%) were identified to carry (likely) pathogenic variants: ten in BRCA2 and one in BRCA1, PALB2 and PTEN, respectively. Here, PALB2 is linked to breast cancer.