West Australians love the great outdoors, but a new campaign backed by a confronting documentary film has a clear warning for sun-lovers and doctors.
By Cathy O’Leary
Australia might be credited for inventing the cardiac pacemaker and the cochlear implant, but its reputation for being a trailblazer is also extending to a darker side of health care.
The country is becoming world-famous for the downside of excessive UV exposure – with one of the highest rates of skin cancer, causing more deaths than the number of road fatalities.
While the human toll is enormous, so are the economic costs, estimated to be close to $2 billion a year nationally, including $200 million in WA where almost 1500 people were diagnosed with melanoma in 2020.
The price of spending time out in the sun has been laid bare in Conquering Skin Cancer, a feature-length documentary screening in cinemas over summer, with a simple mission to prevent skin cancer and find it early.
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in Australia, and over the past decade the incidence has increased by 50%, with one million skin cancers recorded annually.
Today, two in every three Australians will get a skin cancer in their lifetime and the World Health Organization predicts a staggering 68% increase in melanoma deaths by 2040.
And while ageing is strongly linked to the incidence of melanoma, children and teenagers can also get the skin cancer, with even a five-year-old WA child being diagnosed with melanoma.
While the main aim of the new film is to shift public complacency and the myth of the healthy tan, it has also sparked calls to have better training for GPs and more dermatologists to cope with the tsunami of skin cancers coming their way, particularly as a lifetime of sun exposure catches up with baby boomers.
The film has the support of peak bodies including the Cancer Council and the Australasian College of Dermatologists.

According to Cancer Council WA SunSmart manager Sally Blane, the belief that skin cancer messages such as ‘slip, slop, slap’ have done their job is wishful thinking.
Reframing sun worship
“We must reframe our relationship with the sun because there is a misconception that (skin cancer prevention) is done – that there’s been a 40-year investment so it’s OK and we can take the foot off the accelerator – when we know that is not the case,” she said.
“It’s incredible how many conversations we have with our leaders in WA and nationally where they say ‘aren’t we finished with this’, and we have to say ‘no, this is still an issue.’
“Everyone thinks they’re invincible and it’s not going to happen to them, or if you’re an older person and you’ve had a lot of sun in your life you might think you can’t change your outcome. But even if you’ve had significant sun exposure you can still change its trajectory.
“The one thing that all the experts in the documentary agreed on was that we, as a nation, can’t treat our way out of skin cancer because, while treatments are increasing incredibly, with amazing advances meaning melanoma is so much more curable, it’s also very expensive. And those treatments are becoming more available for earlier stages, particularly for melanoma.”
Ms Blane told Medical Forum that up to 95% of skin cancers were preventable, and that meant more needed to be done to stop that impact on the health system, as well as the massive personal costs.
“A lot of people think BCCs (basal cell carcinomas) are pretty minor, and you just go to the doctors and get them cut out, but they’re still incredibly inconvenient and disfiguring, so I think we need to get away from that mentality,” she said.
“I also find it odd that we have this incredible amount of knowledge about skin cancer – it’s everywhere and everyone has had one or knows someone who has – yet we’re still, as a community, pretty complacent in terms of providing protection like shade.
“When it comes to the Aussie tan culture, things have improved, and we have moved on from the days from where people used to lie out in the sun.
“But our research is also showing that while young people put a lot of sunscreen on their face, because they’re concerned about ageing and the way they look, the rest of their body is fair game.”
Perth dermatologist and fellow of the Australasian College of Dermatologists, Dr Kate Borland, who spoke on a panel at a recent screening of the film, said one of the most common misconceptions was that skin cancer was symptomatic.
“In fact, the opposite is true, and you often don’t know they’re there. It’s really only squamous cell carcinoma that announces itself, and it grows rapidly and is painful,” she said.
“Basal cell carcinomas and melanomas are often asymptomatic, so you don’t notice them. That’s where skin surveillance comes into its own because you need someone looking at your skin to find these things.”
Dr Borland said another misconception was people thinking that because they had some SPF in their makeup, they did not need to wear sunscreen.
“Often make-up and BB creams have SPF 15+ which is okay if you’re dark-skinned but for fair-skinned types absolutely not, and we also often forget to reapply sunscreen,” she said. “And while there is SPF30+, if you’re going to be outside in peak (UV) times why not go for SPF50+.”
Kids & melanoma
Like all skin cancers, melanoma incidence rates are linked to ageing, as many years spent out in the sun take their toll.
The most dangerous of skin cancers, melanoma, affects melanocytes – the cells in the outer layer of the skin which form melanin, the pigment that gives skin its colour. Melanoma is particularly dangerous because it can quickly spread from the skin to other parts of the body.
More than 18,000 cases of melanoma of the skin were diagnosed in Australia in 2023, and the average age at diagnosis was 64 years in males and 60 in females.
However, while skin cancers are less common in young people, Dr Borland warned that even melanomas could occur in children and teenagers.
“There is a myth that it only happens in later life, but in our practice, we’ve had a five-year-old with melanoma, and only last week I found a melanoma on a 16-year-old,” she said.
“I’m seeing more and more patients in their 20s and 30s with basal cell and squamous cell cancers so the feeling that it can’t happen to me because I’m young is a big misconception.”
Conquering Skin Cancer, produced by Mike Hill and Sue Collins, features some well-known survivors including Hugh Jackman, swimmer Cate Campbell and surfer Rabbit Bartholomew.
It also includes Perth skin cancer prevention advocate Dr Chandrika Gibson and Mark Lane, chief executive of Surfing WA, who share their battles with skin cancer and the lessons they have learnt about sun protection.
Mr Lane’s love for surfing began as a boy at Scarborough Beach but hours of sun exposure in the water added up, and he was diagnosed with stage 3 skin cancer in 2018, after finding a lump in the side of his neck.
That lump has so far triggered six years of treatment involving surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
“It’s been brutal, and at one stage I thought they might as well start digging me a hole,” he said of his experience.

Early detection
Dr Borland said some workplaces now offered free access to skin checks and mobile vans operated intermittently, but they only captured a small part of the population.
“Skin cancer is now very common, two of three people will get skin cancers, but the screening is too ad hoc,” she said. “It comes down to Government policy giving free access, but it’s difficult because it’s not a simple test like for bowel cancer screening you can do at home – you need to go to them.”
She said that when it came to the question of whether people should see their GP, a skin cancer clinic, or dermatologist, she said they all did a good job.
“Any of those will be fine for your first port of call, and probably the easiest to access is your general practitioner but of course GPs vary in their skill level and comfort level in diagnosing and treating skin cancers, although they can refer on to someone like me,” she said.
“But sadly, there aren’t enough dermatologists, and that comes down to Federal funding of trainee positions, and that’s another avenue where progress could be made, and there’s been a lot of lobbying on that.”
Ms Blane said that while prevention was always better than cure, the film strongly promoted the value of early detection and regular skin checks in people at risk.
The Federal Government had announced about $10 million towards a national melanoma screening program, which would be targeted rather than for the general population.
“It’s still very early days, and certainly it’s all about knowing your risk, because not everyone needs to get their skin checked,” she said.
“But we acknowledge that a massive barrier for many people is finding someone to check their skin and it can be difficult particularly in regional WA, and this is something Cancer Council advocates for consistently.
“When you’re looking for someone, it’s often a GP, and you’re looking for someone who is using a dermatoscope (imaging device), and someone who is trained in that – regardless of their title.
“We know there’s not a massive amount of difference in terms of finding a skin cancer, whether it’s through a GP or a specialist. But we’d like to see better training and support for GPs, and making sure GPs are trained in dermoscopy is really important.
“And regionally, you often don’t have a choice in who you see, and it’s not standardised, and it would be great to have more support in that training for GPs, with a more comprehensive strategy.”
Recent data from online healthcare directory Cleanbill revealed that the average initial consult for WA dermatologists was about $257 and a follow-up consult cost $171, with Medicare giving a rebate of $84 for an initial consult and $42 for subsequent appointments.
Mr Lane told the film screening event that in his experience “your GP does a pretty good job” but he did not begrudge spending money to see a specialist.
“If you go to a skin specialist it will cost about $100 after your rebate, and then obviously you can go further up the chain to get even more specialist care,” he said.
“But if you think about it, it’s a couple of hundred dollars a year to at least know where you stand, so it’s a pretty good investment in your health.”
Ms Blane said the timing of the film’s release was opportune for WA, just ahead of the State election.
“We’ll be asking for a more comprehensive strategy to skin cancer – our ‘national cancer’ – which will include better training for health professionals on early detection, and more support for prevention such as minimum shade regulations in public spaces,” she said.
ED: For screening dates and information go to www.conqueringcancercampaign.com/conquering-skin-cancer. The film can also be rented through https://vimeo.com/ondemand/conqueringcancer
More information on skin cancer is at www.cancerwa.asn.au
Chandrika’s story
Perth yoga therapist Chandrika Gibson has needed surgery year in and year out since the first major skin cancer was treated when she was 26.
“That did shock me, because it was a tiny little spot on my face and the surgical incision was massive,” she explains in the film.
“I did have what I would now term ‘mirror trauma’ – which is quite a common experience – of being really shocked when I looked in the mirror after that surgery.”
Dr Gibson, who did a PhD into the psychosocial needs of people diagnosed with head and neck cancer, has worked with Cancer Council WA, Solaris Cancer Care, and Breast Cancer Care WA.
In 2021, she allowed an advertising agency to model a prosthetic version of her major facial surgical wounds from skin cancer treatment, as part of a SunSmart campaign to educate people about the importance of sun protection when UV is 3 or above.
She grew up on a farm in Capel and said she was careful with day-to-day sun protection such as wearing hats and not working outside in the middle of the day. But she believes she got a lot of skin damage from covering herself in baby oil before swimming lessons at the beach to ward off jellyfish, attending agriculture shows, and sun exposure at school, especially on sports days.
“From that first lesion when I was 19, I have had about 30 separate basal cell carcinomas on my face, shoulders and back removed,” she said.
“Then when I was 30 years old, my partner spotted an unusual looking mole on my back that had changed, which turned out to be melanoma.
“In 2018, I had a ‘nest’ of BCCs on my right cheek, the scars of which are shown in the documentary, and in addition, I have since had surgery to remove lesions from the tip of my nose and right eyebrow.”
Dr Gibson said she hoped the documentary – and her confronting images – would motivate people to use multiple sun protection measures when they are outside and the UV level is 3 or more.
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