The federal court has upheld a landmark decision that found a women-only social media app and its founder unlawfully discriminated against Roxanne Tickle after the transgender woman was denied access to the platform.
In their judgment on Friday, 15 May, justices Melissa Perry, Wendy Abraham and Geoffrey Kennett affirmed an August 2024 finding that Tickle was discriminated against on the basis of her gender identity, and also sided with Tickle’s cross-appeal, claiming 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 thought she was a man.
On Friday, the full bench of the federal court in Sydney upheld Bromwich’s decision and awarded Tickle damages of $20,000, double the amount initially awarded.
It also ruled Tickle was successful in her cross-appeal, finding she was discriminated against twice, when Tickle was excluded from accessing the Giggle app on the basis of her gender-related appearance, and secondly when her readmission to the app was refused.
Tickle, from regional New South Wales, had her access to the app blocked in 2021 after she uploaded a selfie of her face as part of its registration process.
“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,” Perry told the court .
“This amounted to direct discrimination by reference to a characteristic that pertains to people of Ms Tickle’s gender identity, being a transgender woman,” Perry continued.
“Ms Tickle has been successful in her cross appeal under the act, gender identity is defined as meaning gender-related identity and gender-related characteristics, including appearance.”
The judges agreed discrimination against Tickle on the grounds of her gender identity was contrary to section 22 of the commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984 when read with section 51B of the same act.
At the four-day appeal hearing in August 2025, the full bench of the federal court heard that Grover’s team believed the app – designed as a “women-only safe space” – constituted a “special measure” under the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA), which allows discrimination with the aim of redressing historical disadvantage between men and women.
Tickle cross-appealed, claiming she was treated “as a hostile invader” and allegedly directly discriminated against twice when she was excluded from the Giggle for Girls app.
She sought $30,000 in general damages and $10,000 in aggravated damages. Her team argued previously awarded damages of $10,000 were inappropriate and did not take into account Grover’s conduct around the 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.
The lawsuit was first filed in December 2022. During the initial three-day trial in April 2024, the court heard Tickle had lived as a woman since 2017, has a birth certificate stating her gender is female, had 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 had been intended as an online refuge for women.
It is the first gender identity discrimination case to reach the federal court and has been watched around the world given 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.
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