‘DM to book’: The secret solariums operating inside suburban homes

Dangerous sunbeds are still being rented out more than 10 years after NSW’s “tan ban” on commercial solariums, and operators running illegal services in suburban homes are finding clients on social media.

New laws banning social media advertising of such services come as concerns rise over the popularity of tanning among Generation Z, despite decades of public health campaigns warning of the link between sun exposure and skin cancer.

Commercial UV solariums were outlawed in 2014 due to concerns about the link between tanning and melanoma but it remains legal to own a sunbed for personal use.

This loophole has helped spawn a cottage industry of at-home solariums, which advertise their services on private social media accounts.

“Cash only,” note the pages of Instagram accounts the Herald found advertising solarium services in several western Sydney postcodes, urging potential clients to “DM [direct message] to book”.

The NSW Environmental Protection Authority, the agency that regulates radiation exposure in the state, is also concerned by home businesses promoting themselves on social media as “collariums” – a term used for sunbeds that combine UV and infrared light. These beds claim to “stimulate” collagen production and provide a “safer tan”.

But Cancer Council NSW skin prevention manager Liz King said it was inaccurate to promote any UV bed as providing a safe tan.

“It is a myth that it’s safe to tan if you don’t burn, or that a light tan is a sign of good health,” she said.

Cancer epidemiologist Professor Anne Cust, a faculty member of the Melanoma Institute Australia and deputy director of the Daffodil Centre, said collariums were simply rebranded solariums, and that they carried the same risks from UV exposure. She said claims made by these services about collagen production were bogus.

“UV radiation breaks down collagen; that’s how it causes ageing,” she said. “So it just doesn’t work.”

The EPA receives about 16 reports a year of illegal solarium businesses, and it is concerned by an increase in their prevalence.

New regulations are designed to help the authority crack down on covert operators by making it illegal to advertise solarium services on social media, including by publishing information about businesses and soliciting clients, as well as increasing penalties.

Under the changes, introduced at the end of last month, it is an offence to publish an image, audio or text that “solicits, invites or promotes inquiries about the use of a tanning unit”, meaning that material does not need to disclose a price to be considered an advertisement, a loophole that was being used previously.

Fines for individuals operating an illegal solarium have increased from $1500 to $5000 and penalties for businesses have increased from $3000 to $10,000.

If the matter proceeds to a prosecution, the reforms have also increased the maximum court-imposed penalty for operating an illegal solarium from $22,000 to $27,000 for individuals and from $44,000 and $55,000 for corporations.

It comes after a Wollongong man was fined $3000 by the EPA for allegedly charging individuals for tanning bed sessions at two residential properties.

An EPA investigation in November 2024 revealed the man was operating out of properties at Wollongong and Warrawong, charging $35 for a 35-minute appointment. At the time, the maximum fine available was two $1500 fines, one for each location.

If investigated today, an operator facing the same allegations could be up for two $5000 fines, totalling $10,000.

NSW EPA chief executive Tony Chappel said the new regulations better matched the level of risk.

Cust’s research has shown 10 sessions in a sunbed double an Australian’s risk of developing melanoma.

In addition, it found three-quarters of melanomas among Australians who were diagnosed with melanoma aged 18 to 29 who had ever used a sunbed are attributable to sunbed use.

Health experts are concerned by lax attitudes held by young people towards tanning. Cancer Council research published earlier this year found nine in 10 Australians aged 18 to 30 intentionally or unintentionally sunbathe, and 70 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds are pro-tanning.

Pro-tanning content is widespread on social media platforms, especially TikTok.

The social media app announced a ban on all tanning content from its platform in 2022. However, it has failed to enforce it.

A search for “tanning” returns more than 700,000 videos, mostly posted by young women. Some promise “tanning secrets”, while others glorify tan lines, and show the use of tanning oils and solariums.

Cust said it was young women who sought out solariums.

“All the research internationally points towards young adults, and particularly women, being the main users of indoor tanning devices,” she said.

“This is often because of so-called beauty ideals, which is why we are really advocating to change that culture.”

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