Australia Publishes Outcome of Sunscreen Consultation

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has published the outcome of its consultation on proposed improvements to the regulation of sunscreens in Australia and confirmed the reforms it intends to progress.

The consultation, which ran from 26 March to 23 May 2026, sought views on a range of proposals relating to Sun Protection Factor (SPF) testing and claims, oversight of testing laboratories, regulatory obligations, labelling and manufacturing guidance (See News Items). The TGA received almost 120 submissions from industry, testing laboratories, health professionals, consumer groups, academia and other stakeholders.

CTPA submitted a response to the consultation on behalf of UK industry, reflecting members’ views on the proposed changes.

As part of its wider review of Australia’s sunscreen regulatory framework, the TGA identified a number of areas where it considered improvements were needed. These included the variability of SPF claims, the reproducibility of current SPF testing methods, oversight of laboratories performing SPF testing, and sponsors’ and manufacturers’ understanding of their regulatory obligations.

Having considered the responses received, the TGA has confirmed that reforms that will be developed include:

• Strengthening sunscreen testing requirements to improve confidence and reliability of SPF claims.
• Developing quality requirements for specific sunscreen ingredients to help ensure sunscreen products that include those ingredients are of high quality and will perform as expected.
• Limiting the SPF claims that cosmetic sunscreens can make so that there is clear distinction for consumers between sunscreens that are used for a primary purpose of UV protection and secondary (cosmetic) sunscreens.
• Reviewing sunscreen good manufacturing practice (GMP) guidance to clarify expectations and responsibilities, strengthen manufacturing outcomes, and support continued confidence in the quality and performance of sunscreen products in Australia.

Further review and consultation on SPF labelling will be undertaken at a later stage before progressing with any proposed labelling changes.

Further information on the reforms and their progression is available on the TGA sunscreen reforms page. The full consultation outcome is also available on the TGA consultation hub.