Australia’s history of negative child protection outcomes for children in state care highlights the sustained, systemic nature of serious harm. Situated in emerging conversations on structural challenges and state violence for parents involved in child protection systems, we trace the resources and barriers to responsive and ‘just’ child protection practice, highlighting how institutions can serve to compound disadvantage and injustice. We argue that addressing challenges such as access to advocacy at the level of the individual is to miss the underlying politics of oppression that serves to keep families marginalised. Instead, we need to rethink how parental rights and responsibilities are best facilitated at institutional levels – what we term institutional justice capital. This requires public conversation about thresholds for child removal, transparent treatment of families, access to mechanisms to challenge the determinations of child protection authorities, and inter-organisational respect and collaboration to support families to navigate complex and multiple systems.

澳大利亚在国家看护中对儿童的负面儿童保护成果的历史突显了严重伤害的持续的系统性。在针对涉及儿童保护系统的父母的结构性挑战和国家暴力的新兴对话中，我们追踪了响应和“公正”的儿童保护实践的资源和障碍，强调了机构可以如何帮助弱势群体和不公正者。我们认为，在个人层面上解决诸如获得辩护权之类的挑战，就是错过潜在的压迫政治，这种压迫政治使家庭处于边缘地位。相反，我们需要重新考虑如何在制度层面上最好地促进父母的权利和责任，我们称之为制度正义资本。这就需要公众讨论有关遣散儿童的门槛，