On 5 December 2016, Justice Mortimer handed down a 1,806 paragraph judgment, making nine declarations that the police had engaged in acts of unlawful racial discrimination, for which the State was vicariously liable.

[3] According to the Wottons' legal team, the judgment left the door open for potentially hundreds of claims for compensation by Aboriginal residents of Palm Island who were affected by the police conduct.

[4] In January 2017, Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath instructed the Crown Solicitor to file an appeal from Justice Mortimer's judgment.

[7][8] In May 2018, the 447 members of the community involved in the class action were granted a A$30 million dollar settlement and an apology by the Queensland Government.

[13] In August 2020 a group of Palm Islanders lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission, under Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.