The national significance of the NSW child protection and adoption reforms cannot be overstated. The changes to child protection services in NSW not only constitute a blueprint for genuine systemic change across the full service spectrum, designed to address the unsustainable trajectory of OOHC services. The balanced, effective and accountable system being pioneered in NSW also marks a turning point in the contentious debate about child protection and adoption; if the NSW reforms are emulated, this will allow other state and territory governments to successfully negotiate the cultural politics and end the ‘adoption wars’.