Abstract
This chapter details a systemic intervention to design a national response to family violence prevention involving diverse stakeholders with differing views on what was required to transform New Zealand's approach, which was widely regarded as piecemeal and fragmented. In the face of significant social and organisational problems, system redesign requires attention not only to structural viability (to resource and sustain outcomes) but also to socio-cultural and political dimensions of viability (to ensure credibility and legitimacy). The latter are important to ensure that the resulting design is both systemically desirable and culturally feasible. We reflect on the extent to which our systemic intervention enabled stakeholders to articulate a structurally, socially and politically robust vision. We recommend that future work to design national-level service systems focus more on political viability by paying attention to policy communities and the machinery of government.