Cancer-sufferers have slammed the operators of illegal solariums as a hidden-camera investigation reveals how easy it is to flout the law and book a session in a sunbed.
Just one session in a sunbed greatly increases the risk of melanoma, which kills almost 2,000 people in Australia each year.
Solariums were banned in most Australian states in 2014 due to health concerns, but an undercover investigation has found secret black market sunbeds in operation.
Cancer-sufferers have slammed the operators of illegal solariums as a hidden-camera investigation shows how easy it is to flout the law and book a session in a sunbed
A supplements store in western Sydney was found to have two sunbeds hidden away during a hidden camera investigation by A Current Affair.
At another shop a reporter was able to access a sunbed for a $35 fee.
She was asked to ring the outside doorbell before sending a password via text message in order to use the solarium.
Commercial solariums are also being advertised online, through social media and classified listings on Gumtree.
Melanoma sufferer Jenny Thorburn used solariums during her 20s, and now she is paying the price.
She has stage four melanoma and has had eight malignant growths removed from her brain.
‘I have three daughters and a son and this is the hardest thing, the pain that I see in my daughters’ faces,’ she said.
‘They want me at their wedding, they want mum to be there when they one day get married, to zip up their wedding dress and they want me to be there when they have their children.
‘These things do kill you.’
Solariums were banned in most Australian states in 2014 due to health concerns, but an undercover investigation has found secret black market sunbeds in operation
Jay Allen is another cancer sufferer who has campaigned against the use of solariums.
‘I used to use the solarium probably three or four times a week in my 20s,’ he said.
‘My mates were using it, we’d go to the gym and we’d want to look good and want to get the girl on the weekend. That’s sort of how it worked.’
It is legal to own a solarium, but a fee cannot be charged for their use.
More than 14,000 Australians are diagnosed with melanoma every year, and 1,800 people die from the disease.
Invasive melanoma diagnoses have dropped since commercial solariums were banned.
Melanoma sufferer Jenny Thorburn used solariums during her 20s, and now she is paying the price