Information for solaria businesses

Page contents: Businesses with tanning units | Maximum penalties | Unsupervised solaria | Equipment testing | Cost | Revision of the Australian Standard | More information

What do the Radiation Amendment (Tanning Units and Fees) Regulations 2008 mean for my business?

These new regulations prescribe a commercial tanning unit to be a non-ionising radiation apparatus under the Radiation Act 2005. The regulations also define a tanning unit to be an electrically powered apparatus intended to produce tanning of the human skin by utilising ultraviolet radiation.

The new regulations do not represent any significant change to your business, however in line with the recently agreed national standards for the regulation of solaria, we will be making a number of changes to your existing management licence to reflect these developments.

This means that there will be a variation made to the conditions attached to your management licence. This will take effect from 1 February 2009, with the major change involving raising the minimum age that a person can be allowed to use a commercial tanning unit from 16 to 18. Therefore, from 1 February 2009, you will need to ensure that no client aged under 18 is allowed to use a commercial tanning unit.

New Conditions of a Management Licence

Your management licence will contain the following conditions which have been drawn from the nationally agreed regulatory position on solaria. These new conditions will affect the detail of the licence in relation to both the sale and the possession of commercial tanning units.

Management licence conditions for the possession of a commercial tanning unit (39kb, pdf)

The responsibilities of the management licence holder will continue to include elements such as:

• The display of mandatory health warnings;
• Ensuring that nobody under 18 be permitted to use a tanning unit;
• Supervision of all solaria;
• Mandatory skin type assessments.
• Exclusion of clients assessed as skin type I
• Provision of protective eyewear

Mandatory Health Warning

As described in the management licence conditions above, the following warning notice must be displayed within immediate view of any person who enters the premises where a commercial tanning unit is located and in each cubicle that contains a commercial tanning unit.

Health Warning Notice for Solaria (45kb, pdf)

Client Consent Form

As described in the Notice of Exemption condition below, the following Client Consent Form (as derived from the nationally agreed regulatory position) must be signed by all clients prior to using a commercial tanning unit in your possession.

Client Consent Form (14kb, pdf)

Exemption for operators/staff who use commercial tanning units

As was previously the case, an exemption has been made by the Chief Health Officer of DHS for solaria operators/staff from the need to hold a ‘use licence’ provided that the operator complies with a number of conditions such as training, supervision of client exposures, informed consent, skin type assessments and exposure assessments. The exemption was published in the Government Gazette on 27 January 2009 and comes into effect on 1 February 2009.

Notice of exemption under section 16 from the requirement to hold a use licence in respect of a commercial tanning unit (289kb, pdf)

What will this mean for companies who sell or maintain commercial tanning units?

There are separate conditions applied to licences authorising the sale or maintenance of commercial tanning units.

Management licence conditions for the sale and maintenance of commercial tanning units (37kb, pdf)

What maximum penalties apply for non-compliance under the Act?

• $1,020,780 for a company for conducting a radiation practice without a management licence.
• $136,104 for a person who uses a radiation source such as a commercial tanning unit not in accordance with the exemption
• $680,520 for a company that holds a management licence and directs, requests or knowingly allows a person to use a radiation source (commercial tanning unit) in the management licence holders possession contrary to the conditions of the solaria operators/staff exemption from holding a 'use licence'.

What will it mean for unsupervised solaria?

It is important to note that applications seeking to obtain a management licence for an unsupervised solaria will be refused because such a practice is not appropriate given the importance of trained supervisors. Accordingly, the continued operation of such facilities is illegal.

Will my equipment be required to be tested?

There will not be a requirement for mandatory testing of the commercial tanning units in these regulations.

What will a management licence cost?

For the 2009/10 financial year, the cost of a management licence is made up of a “one-off” application processing fee ($105.20) plus a fee based on how many units are to be possessed ($116.90 per unit for a one year licence).

As an example, a business with only one commercial tanning unit will need to apply for a management licence for which the fee for a one year licence will be $105.20 (“one-off” application processing fee) plus $116.90 per unit for a one year licence.

A business which operates three sites with a total of 9 commercial tanning units will need to apply for a management licence for which the fee for a one year licence will be $105.20 (“one-off” application processing fee) plus $1052.10 for a one year licence.

Revision of the Australian Standard

The new updated Australian Standard AS/NZS 2635:2008 - Solaria for cosmetic purposes has now been published, and is available from the Standards Australia website.

How can I find more information?

If you need more information, please contact the Radiation Safety Team at the Department of Human Services on 1300 657 283 or by email at radiation.safety@dhs.vic.gov.au.

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