Weaving data threads in Indigenous justice research: Indigenous data justice and the use of administrative data in criminology

Indigenous research and methodologies challenge the assumptions and practices that Western research has on Indigenous communities. However, criminology continues to be a fraught space. Disparities across justice system outcomes continue and widen between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations around the world; these outcomes are reinforced and justified with Western criminological research—perpetuating a lack of data justice for Indigenous peoples. In this article, I draw forth these tensions, focusing on the role of administrative data in justice research—articulating the issues but also considering pathways forward through centring principles of Indigenous research. Firstly, I outline how justice research using administrative data has significant methodological, ethical, and practical limitations that subjugate Indigenous knowledges and experiences and perpetuate deficit discourses. However, Indigenous research principles and practices—that are grounded in Indigenous values—can provide a framework to weave administrative data into Indigenous justice research. In this vein, I outline six key principles, with Australian and international examples, that address many of the underlying challenges with using administrative data in research. These include (i) reframing data collection; (ii) community-led research; (iii) strengths-based statistical analyses; (iv) strengths-based theorising; (v) Indigenous governance and nation building; and (vi) Indigenous data sovereignty. This framework exemplifies how, in prioritising Indigenous methodologies and research principles, administrative data can support impactful, culturally grounded, and evidence-informed Indigenous justice research.