Justice capital: Delivering equitable outcomes for indigenous children in state care

This chapter outlines the concept of ‘justice capital’. It commences with a discussion of the impacts of colonization on Indigenous people in Australia, with a particular focus on Indigenous children placed in state care systems. It then draws on data collected from young people in a Western Australian youth detention centre to provide both negative and positive examples of individual justice capital (for example, ‘undiagnosed neurodisability’ and ‘access to clinical assessments’ respectively). Next, the chapter introduces a strengths-based scale to measure positive justice capital assets for Indigenous people (for example, ‘I live with an Indigenous foster carer’). The chapter also explores examples of institutional justice capital, again presenting examples of both negative (for example, ‘mainstream schooling’) and positive (for example, ‘community co-designed curriculums’) capital. The chapter concludes with a vision of flourishing communities, where interventions are decided, led, and delivered by and for Indigenous communities, supported by strong relationships with non-Indigenous allies and services.