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Recent SPF testing has raised concerns over sunscreen labelling, prompting questions about consumer trust, regulation, and how Australians make health-critical decisions.

Most of us rely on the label information when choosing a sunscreen, trusting that a SPF 50+ label means a strong, reliable protection. According to by consumer group ��16 popular sunscreens have failed to meet the SPF claims advertised on their packaging.��

The results have raised questions about how sunscreen products are regulated, how consumers make purchasing decisions, and what happens when the trust placed in a product designed to protect health is undermined.

“Most of us are told to apply sunscreen that is at least SPF 30 or above,” says Professor Nitika Garg from the School of Marketing at ���������¼� Business School. “So the SPF 50+ label gives consumers comfort. It’s a quick, accessible signal that they’re doing the right thing and they rightly trust that if a brand is saying it’s SPF 50+, somebody has taken a look at it and approved it.”

In Australia, most sunscreens are regulated by the (TGA) and for therapeutic goods before being approved for sale, including meeting testing and labelling requirements – in the TGA’s words, it is a that “statements on sunscreen labels are truthful and not misleading.” But even with these systems in place, consumers often assume that the label perfectly reflects real-world performance, and that assumption is now being questioned.

Have Australian consumers now lost trust in these popular sunscreen brands? And how much do Australians rely on branding and packaging to make health-critical decisions?

Why Australians trust sunscreen labels

Sunscreen is one of those products most Australians use without much second-guessing, says Prof. Garg. Consumers place trust in SPF numbers and product claims because they offer a shortcut to decision-making, and because the manufacture of sunscreens is strictly regulated in Australia.

“People are time-poor. They don’t want to spend time researching every product, especially for something like sunscreen that’s used regularly. They rely on the brand and the label to give them the information they need so they don’t have to do it themselves,” says Prof. Garg.

While testing with the TGA before going on shelf is designed to protect consumers, recent testing by CHOICE has highlighted how discrepancies between labelled and actual SPF performance can occur, raising questions about how consumers interpret labels and how much they trust the process behind them.��

That trust often extends beyond the product to the system behind it. “Consumers may not always know the name of the agency involved, but they trust that in a country like Australia, products like sunscreen go through regulatory checks,” she says. “And in this case, that trust is backed by TGA; there are processes in place to catch issues and ensure products meet safety standards.” The TGA is investigating the CHOICE findings, and “”.��

When faced with several sunscreens offering similar claims, consumers typically rely on three main criteria when choosing their sunscreen: SPF rating, added features (like water resistance), and price. “Each person has their own set of priorities,” says Prof. Garg. “If you’re at the beach with kids, you might care more about whether it’s water-resistant. If you’re going out for a short walk, SPF might be enough.�� Price is another big deciding factor.”

Prof. Garg says that this layered decision-making process is why the SPF label holds such power and why any mismatch between promise and performance can have negative consequences for trust and behaviour.

What is SPF and why does it matter?

SPF, or sun protection factor, measures how effectively a sunscreen shields you from ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, the kind responsible for sunburn and a driver of skin cancer, says Conjoint Associate Professor Deshan Sebaratnam, from the School of Clinical Medicine at ���������¼�.

“If you would normally burn with two minutes of sun exposure, wearing SPF 30 sunscreen means it would take around 60 minutes to burn,” says A/Prof. Sebaratnam. “Wearing SPF 50 would mean about 100 minutes before burning.”

“SPF 50 lets about 2 % of UVB through, while SPF 30 lets about 3.3 % through,” he says. It’s this extra protection that can make a real difference, especially in Australia, where are among the highest globally.

With will develop skin cancer by retirement age and of melanoma every six hours, the risks of poor sun protection are clear.��

“Skin cancer is our most common cancer, the most expensive to the healthcare system, but also the most preventable,” he says. “Australians need to feel confident that the measures they are taking, like wearing sunscreen, are effective.”