Korean sunscreen, and Australian standards
Korean sunscreens won their following on feel — light, elegant textures you'll happily reapply, which is most of the battle with daily SPF. But Australia regulates sunscreen as a therapeutic good while Korea treats it as a cosmetic, and that gap decides what the number on the bottle is worth here — in the country with the world's highest rate of skin cancer. Here's what ARTG listing means, why many cult Korean SPFs don't have it, and how to weigh that number before you buy.
Start with why this matters more here. Australia and New Zealand have the highest skin-cancer rates in the world: around two in three Australians are diagnosed by the age of 70, and we get up to 15% more UV than Europe. Daily sunscreen is the cheapest, best-evidenced protection there is — so the one number that has to be right is the SPF.
And that number isn't always what the bottle says. When CHOICE tested 20 popular sunscreens in 2025, 16 came back below their labelled SPF — local brands and imports alike. Which sets up a simple question: when you buy a Korean sunscreen in Australia, what is that SPF number worth?
The SPF on the bottle is a claim. In Australia, the rules behind that claim are tougher than in Korea — and that gap is the whole story.
In Australia, sunscreen is a therapeutic good
Most sunscreens sold for sun protection in Australia are regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), not as cosmetics. A primary sunscreen generally has to be included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (the ARTG) and meet the Australian and New Zealand sunscreen standard (AS/NZS 2604) before it can be sold here as a sunscreen. That standard governs how SPF is tested and what a label is allowed to claim. The detail is in the TGA's guidance on sunscreen regulation in Australia.
Why many Korean sunscreens aren't listed here
Korea regulates sunscreen as a "functional cosmetic", with its own SPF and PA testing. The number on the bottle is tested — but to Korean methods rather than AS/NZS 2604, and the TGA never assesses it. That's why a lot of popular Korean SPFs aren't on the ARTG: they were never submitted for Australian listing. You'll often find them sold here as "skincare", or imported from overseas, rather than as a registered sunscreen.
Can you still buy and use them?
Usually, yes — and plenty of people do. The product itself is generally fine; it's the SPF claim that's unverified here, tested to Korean methods and never checked to Australian standards. So read the number as the maker's claim rather than an independently assessed figure. And as the CHOICE results show, even a label verified here is no cast-iron guarantee — which is the case for applying enough and reapplying, whatever you wear.
How to check a product's status
You can search the register yourself. If a sunscreen is listed, it appears in the ARTG search by product or sponsor name. No listing doesn't make a product illegal to own; it just means the SPF claim wasn't assessed in Australia.
How we'd think about it
For everyday protection under Australia's sun, the safe baseline is an ARTG-listed sunscreen applied properly — enough product, reapplied — which is the approach Cancer Council Australia sets out. A Korean sunscreen can still be the one you reach for, because a texture you like is a sunscreen you'll keep wearing. Just go in knowing what the label is and isn't telling you. When we review a Korean SPF, we note whether it's ARTG-listed, and we make no therapeutic claims — we point you to the authorities above.
General information only, not medical advice. For sun protection and any skin concern, follow the product label and check with a pharmacist or doctor.