Explainer: Legal protections for trans and gender diverse people

What are the legal rights of trans people in Australia?

In Australia, transgender and gender diverse people have the same legal rights as everyone else.
The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 protects people from discrimination based on their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status and other grounds. Under the Act, you can’t exclude or mistreat someone for these reasons in areas of public life, such as education, employment, buying something at a shop or accessing services, unless a relevant exemption applies.
These protections help ensure that trans people are treated with fairness and respect.

Discrimination on the grounds of gender identity

When the Sex Discrimination Act refers to ‘gender identity discrimination’ it includes discrimination against someone because they are trans or gender diverse.  For example, if someone was refused a job, accommodation or goods and services because they are trans or gender diverse, this would be unlawful gender identity discrimination unless an exemption applied (see below for more information on exemptions).

Gender identity discrimination often happens to trans and gender diverse people based on their appearance. If a trans or gender diverse person is refused a job because of their gender-related appearance, this is likely to be unlawful gender identity discrimination unless an exemption applied.
Not all trans and gender diverse people have a gender identity that is male or female, but many do. For those people, gender identity discrimination can also occur where they are denied services that are ordinarily provided to people of the same gender.

Australian law recognises that genders are based on more than just biology. It considers how people live, how they feel about themselves and how they express themselves to the world.

Discrimination on the grounds of sex

The Sex Discrimination Act also protects people from discrimination on the grounds of sex. For example, if a trans woman is refused a job because she is a woman, this would be unlawful sex discrimination unless an exemption applied.

The protections against sex discrimination and gender identity discrimination overlap in the Sex Discrimination Act.

Full Federal Court case: Giggle for Girls v Tickle

Giggle for Girls Pty Ltd v Tickle [2026] FCAFC 64 is the first case to deal with gender identity discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act. The Full Federal Court’s decision provides important guidance about the protections for trans and gender diverse people against discrimination.

The Sex Discrimination Commissioner participated in the case as an amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) to make submissions about the meaning of the law.

The case concerned a social networking app called Giggle for Girls, which promoted itself as a space exclusively for women but which excluded trans women. To join the app, users had to submit a photo of themselves. Admission to use the app was decided based on their appearance.

Roxanne Tickle is a trans woman. She has lived as a woman for 9 years and is recognised by her friends, family and work colleagues as a woman. Ms Tickle has had gender affirming surgery and legally changed her sex to female on her birth certificate under Queensland laws.

Ms Tickle joined the Giggle app in 2021 and was initially allowed to use it. However, she was later removed after the app’s founder and CEO Sally Grover reviewed her photo. Ms Tickle asked to be allowed to use the app again, but her request was denied.

Ms Tickle made a discrimination complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission. After the complaint could not be resolved by conciliation, she took her case to the Federal Court and won. Giggle for Girls and its CEO appealed that decision to the Full Court of the Federal Court. Ms Tickle won again. On appeal, the Court said that the decision to exclude her from the app, and the decision not to readmit her, were both acts of direct discrimination on the ground of Ms Tickle’s gender identity.

The Court awarded Ms Tickle $20,000 in damages. This included $8,000 for aggravating conduct by Giggle’s CEO and public statements showing a campaign against Ms Tickle.

Giggle for Girls and its CEO sought special leave to appeal the Full Court decision in the High Court. Special leave was refused on 10 September 2026.

How do we protect everyone's rights?

Human rights protect all of us. In Australia, everyone has the right to be safe and to live free from discrimination. Here are some examples of how human rights support everyone:

• Safety: everyone deserves to be safe and live a life free from violence and abuse. Ending gender-based violence and discrimination means ending it for everyone.
• Fairness: promoting the rights all women, including trans women, involves changing unfair systems. Many women’s organisations advocate for the rights and equal participation of trans and gender diverse people because they see it as part of the bigger fight for gender justice and equality.
• Respect: respecting different identities and experiences does not make other identities and experiences less valuable or important. Human rights are about making sure everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

Exemptions and special measures

Under the Sex Discrimination Act, it is generally against the law to treat someone unfairly because of their sex or gender identity in particular areas of public life.

However, the Act has some exemptions which recognise that not all differential treatment is discriminatory, and that sometimes, treating people differently is necessary to achieve substantive equality. The exemptions are limited and must be justified under the law. In other words, any situation where different treatment is allowed must meet the specific legal criteria below.

Exemptions: The Sex Discrimination Act has certain exemptions where different treatment is permitted. One example is competitive sport, where distinctions based on gender identity are allowed if strength, stamina, or physique are relevant to the competition. The Commission has published guidelines on including trans and gender diverse people in sport, which provide practical advice for sporting organisations on how this exemption works. The Australian Sports Commission has also published guidelines for the inclusion of trans and gender diverse people in High Performance sport.

Special measures: If an action is taken to help achieve real equality between people of different genders, it may not be considered discrimination. For example, it could be lawful to exclude cis-gendered people (people whose gender identity is the same as the sex they were assigned at birth) from a program designed to support trans and gender diverse people to access services, where there have been barriers that stopped trans and gender diverse people from accessing those services equally in the past.

Temporary exemptions: The Commission can also grant temporary exemptions from parts of the Sex Discrimination Act for up to five years. These exemptions are only for specific situations and are dealt with under the guidelines currently being updated by the Commission.
When an exemption is requested, the Commission:

• Asks for public input so individuals and organisations can share their views
• Carefully looks are all the circumstances and submissions received
• Assesses the request against the purposes of the Act, which include to eliminate discrimination as far as possible. You can read the items set out in the Act here.

Every decision is made on a case-by-case basis to ensure fairness and consistency with the law.