Abstract
On 21 June 2007 the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 took effect and changed the legal and policy framework governing how families can discipline their children in New Zealand. This article reports on the political and social context of the law change, and in particular, the role that child advocates in several NGOs, as well as researchers at the Children's Issues Centre, played in promoting this reform to s59 of the Crimes Act 1961 against a backdrop of public opposition.