Solarium standards
What they mean for customers
The solarium industry in Victoria has been regulated since 2008, with permanent legislation consistent with the revised Australian Standard for Solaria since February 2009. Any person or business that possesses, sells or maintains a tanning unit in Victoria needs to hold a management licence.
In late 2009, the Victorian Department of Health funded Cancer Council Victoria to conduct a ‘mystery shopper' study to monitor compliance with key conditions of the management licences. In response to the research findings the management licence conditions were strengthened in late 2010.
The Victorian Government also introduced stricter compliance-monitoring protocols, using a mystery shopper program in conjunction with their other compliance activities to ensure the legislation was enforced.
The Victorian licence requires that operators must:
- Ban people under 18 years of age from using their solarium
- Sight evidence of age documents for all clients
- Ban people with very fair skin (skin type I) from using their solarium
- Display mandatory health warnings
- Provide a consent form outlining the risks of solarium use for customers to read and sign
- Complete a skin assessment of all clients
- Ensure all staff have completed training in carrying out skin assessments and determining exposure times
- Ensure clients wear protective eyewear.
Since the introduction of solarium legislation and more informed consumers, the number of solarium sites across Victoria has dropped by 65%.
By November 2011, there were approximately 145 businesses licensed in Victoria to possess a total of 475 tanning units. These businesses are physically located at 153 sites across Victoria.
Also refer to:
- Department of Health for more information about Victorian solarium regulations
- ARPANSA for more information about regulations in other states
- Standards Australia for more information about the Australian Standard for the solarium industry AS/NZS 2635
