Epistemic injustice on Palm Island

Abstract

This article examines the recent decision in Wotton v Queensland (No 5) through the lens of epistemic injustice. In Wotton, the Federal Court found that police contravened the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 in their response to the death of an Aboriginal man in custody on Palm Island in 2004. The decision is a landmark for police accountability, but it also provides a striking example of an Australian court confronting and condemning epistemic injustice: the distinctive wrongs that may be done to a person as a knower.