When you buy SPF 50+ sunscreen, you trust that it will protect you at SPF 50+. For most Australians, that trust has been completely shattered.
SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. It's a number that tells you how much longer you can stay in the sun before your skin starts to burn, compared to wearing no sunscreen at all.
Here's a simple way to think about it: if your unprotected skin would start to redden after 10 minutes in the sun, applying SPF 50 sunscreen means, in theory, it would take 500 minutes (50 × 10) before the same redness occurs.
Blocks about 96.7% of UVB rays. Allows 1 in 30 UV rays to reach your skin. Suitable for everyday activities with moderate sun exposure.
Blocks about 98% of UVB rays. Allows 1 in 50 UV rays to reach your skin. Recommended for Australian conditions, particularly outdoors and in summer.
The percentage difference between SPF 30 and SPF 50 sounds small, but for people with fair skin, a family history of skin cancer, or high UV exposure, that extra protection matters. In Australia's extreme UV environment, SPF 50+ is the recommended standard.
Important: SPF only measures protection from UVB rays. Look for the words "broad spectrum" on the label, this means the sunscreen also protects against UVA rays, which cause deeper skin damage and ageing.
In Australia, sunscreens are regulated as therapeutic goods, meaning they're treated more like medicines than cosmetics. This is actually a higher standard than most countries, where sunscreen is simply a cosmetic product.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is the Australian government body responsible for regulating sunscreens. Under Australian law, any sunscreen claiming SPF 4 or above must be listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) before it can be sold.
The TGA is responsible for:
SPF testing in Australia follows the Australian/New Zealand Sunscreen Standard (AS/NZS 2604:2021), which aligns with international standards. Testing involves applying sunscreen to human volunteers, exposing them to a calibrated solar simulator, and measuring how much UV protection is actually provided.
Here's the critical point: the TGA does not routinely test sunscreens before they reach shelves. It relies primarily on manufacturers to self-certify that their products meet the required standards. Post-market surveillance, testing products after they're on sale, is limited.
In 2025, consumer advocacy group CHOICE conducted independent testing of 20 popular Australian sunscreens. What they found was alarming, and it should make every Australian angry.
sunscreens failed to meet their SPF claims
the actual protection offered by one product labelled SPF 50+
CHOICE sent 20 popular sunscreens, from well-known brands at different price points, to a TGA-approved external laboratory for independent SPF testing. The results were devastating.
The most shocking failure: Ultra Violette Lean Screen SPF 50+, one of Australia's most popular and trusted sunscreens, returned an SPF of just 4. CHOICE was so alarmed they tested a second batch at a different laboratory in Germany. The result: SPF 5.
Other failures included products from Banana Boat, Bondi Sands, Cancer Council, Aldi, Naked Sundays, Mecca, Wotnot, Belo, Sunsense, Invisible Zinc and more, products that millions of Australians apply to themselves and their children, trusting they are protected.
Source: CHOICE sunscreen testing, 2025. Full results available at choice.com.au
Following CHOICE's investigation, the TGA raised concerns over 20 sunscreens sold in Australia, and several brands, including Cancer Council, Ultra Violette, and others, recalled or paused sale of their products to undertake independent re-testing.
Brands recalled products. The TGA issued statements. But the question every Australian deserves an answer to, how did 16 out of 20 sunscreens fail to deliver the protection they promised?, has never been properly answered.
There has been no official explanation from the TGA as to why so many products failed. No public inquiry. No accountability for the manufacturers who sold millions of Australians a product that didn't work as labelled.
Families applied these products to their children before a day at the beach. Workers applied them before hours in the sun. People with a family history of skin cancer, people who know better than most what's at stake, trusted these products to protect them.
And the system that was supposed to protect them, the TGA's regulatory framework, failed to catch it before it reached shelves.
We deserve better.
Australians have one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world. We live in one of the most UV-intense environments on the planet. And we can't even trust that the sunscreen we buy will do what the label says.
The CHOICE findings exposed two separate but related failures: the failure of manufacturers to deliver products that meet their claims, and the failure of the regulatory system to catch it.
The TGA must move beyond self-certification and implement mandatory, independent pre-market testing for all sunscreens claiming SPF protection. Post-market surveillance must be routine and transparent.
Brands that sell products that fail to meet their SPF claims must face meaningful consequences, not just voluntary recalls. Consumers who were misled deserve to know what happened.
Government-supplied sunscreen through a National Sunscreen Program would be subject to rigorous, independent testing, removing the risk of consumers unknowingly using substandard products.
The TGA should publish regular, public reports on sunscreen testing results, so Australians can make informed decisions and trust that the products they buy actually work.
The CHOICE investigation was done by a consumer advocacy group, not the government regulator. That tells you everything about the current state of sunscreen oversight in Australia. It shouldn't take an independent organisation to expose failures that the TGA should have caught.
Start Here
Before diving into SPF numbers, it helps to understand the two types of UV radiation, UVA and UVB, what makes them different, and why Australia's UV environment is uniquely dangerous. It's the foundation for everything on this page.
Understanding UV RadiationSign the petition for a National Sunscreen Program, independently tested, freely available, and held to the highest standard.
Because in a country with Australia's skin cancer rates, "good enough" is not good enough.