Tickle v Giggle

Tickle v Giggle was a gender identity discrimination claim brought under the Australian Sex Discrimination Act 1984, subsequently appealed to the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. Giggle for Girls was a social media app for women. Its membership policy excluded trans women, and on that basis Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman from New South Wales was removed from the app. Tickle sued Giggle in 2022. In August 2024, the Federal Court of Australia found at first instance that she had been discriminated against indirectly (that is, through a rule that applied to everyone but that placed her at a disadvantage) and ordered Giggle and Grover to pay her damages and cover the costs of the case. It was the first case to test the parts of that Act which protect people against gender identity discrimination, protections that had been added in 2013. Both Tickle and Giggle's chief executive, Sall Grover, appealed. The appellate court heard the appeals in Sydney from 4 to 6 August 2025 and delivered its decision on 15 May 2026. The court dismissed Grover's appeal and allowed Tickle's cross-appeal: it set aside the first instance judge's declaration of indirect discrimination and substituted a declaration that Giggle and Grover had unlawfully directly discriminated against Tickle in two respects (by excluding her from the app and by refusing to re-admit her) and increased the damages to A$20,000. Grover sought leave from the High Court of Australia for a further appeal, but it was refused.