The Federal Court of Australia has upheld a landmark decision that a women-only social media app and its founder unlawfully discriminated against Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman who was denied access to the platform.
Court ruling and damages
In a judgment delivered on Friday, Justices Melissa Perry, Wendy Abraham, and Geoffrey Kennett affirmed a previous finding from August 2024 that Tickle was discriminated against on the basis of her gender identity. The full bench also sided with Tickle's cross-appeal, which argued that she experienced two instances of direct discrimination by the Giggle for Girls app and its founder, Sall Grover.
The app and Grover had challenged Justice Robert Bromwich's milestone decision, which found they had indirectly discriminated against Tickle when she was barred from the platform because they believed she was a man. On Friday, the court upheld Bromwich's ruling and awarded Tickle damages of $20,000, double the amount initially granted.
Details of discrimination
The court found that Tickle was directly discriminated against on two occasions: first, when she was excluded from accessing the Giggle app based on her gender-related appearance, and second, when her readmission to the app was refused. Tickle, from regional New South Wales, had her access blocked in 2021 after she uploaded a selfie as part of the registration process.
Justice Perry stated: "The full court has found that Giggle For Girls and Ms Grover both excluded Ms Tickle from the Giggle app and refused to re-admit her on the basis of her gender-related appearance by reference to her selfie. This amounted to direct discrimination by reference to a characteristic that pertains to people of Ms Tickle's gender identity, being a transgender woman."
The judges agreed that the discrimination was contrary to section 22 of the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984 when read with section 51B of the same act.
Cross-appeal and damages
During the four-day appeal hearing in August 2025, Grover's team argued that the app, designed as a "women-only safe space," constituted a "special measure" under the Sex Discrimination Act, which permits discrimination to address historical disadvantage between men and women. Tickle cross-appealed, claiming she was treated "as a hostile invader" and directly discriminated against twice. She sought $30,000 in general damages and $10,000 in aggravated damages, arguing that the initial $10,000 award was inadequate and did not account for Grover's conduct during proceedings.
On Friday, Tickle was awarded $20,000 in damages. The court also ordered Giggle and Grover to pay her costs of up to $50,000.
Tickle's response
Outside the court, Tickle expressed her motivation for pursuing legal action: "I wanted to show trans people that you can be brave and that you can stand up for yourself. In the process, I surprised myself at just how brave I could be. Young Roxy would be surprised but overjoyed."
Reflecting on the challenges she faced, Tickle said that when she began her gender affirmation in 2017, she had no idea that a small minority of people who had never met her "would invest an incredible amount of their own precious time and effort into ridiculing, degrading, threatening and mocking me to try to make my life as miserable as they could." She added: "Sometimes it's difficult to remember that most Australians are kind and believe in allowing everyone to be free to live their life in dignity and be free to be who they truly are."
Background and implications
The lawsuit was first filed in December 2022. During the initial three-day trial in April 2024, the court heard that Tickle had lived as a woman since 2017, held a birth certificate stating her gender as female, had undergone gender affirmation surgery, and "feels in her mind that psychologically she is a woman." The respondents claimed that biological sex was immutable and that the app was intended as an online refuge for women.
This is the first gender identity discrimination case to reach the Federal Court and has garnered international attention due to its potentially far-reaching implications for public spaces, sports, and events. According to the Giggle crowdfunding website, Grover's team is collecting donations to prepare for a potential High Court challenge.
Reactions
Heather Corkhill, legal director of Equality Australia, described the ruling as "a clear and significant win for equality and fairness." She stated: "Today's decision is an important win for everyone protected under the act, including women and LGBTIQ+ people. It affirms that trans Australians are entitled to the same legal protections, and the same right to live safely and with dignity, as everyone else."
