Calling all budding fashion designers for Project SPF

Published Tuesday, 04 March, 2014 at 12:00 PM

Minister for Health
The Honourable Lawrence Springborg

A new sun safety campaign targeting the state’s fashion-conscious young women has been unveiled by Queensland Health.

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said the initiative also offered Queenslanders a chance to win a mentorship with international fashion designer, Juli Grbac.

“Research tells us that traditional sun safety campaigns aren’t reaching young people, because the majority of the information they access isn’t sourced through traditional streams,” Mr Springborg said.

“We promised at the election to revitalise frontline services where the previous Labor government failed and that will mean doing things differently to target the younger demographic.

“The new campaign, Project SPF (stay pretty forever) highlights the physical damage sun exposure causes and while it may not be conventional, the research tells us it is more likely to have an impact.

“$1.2 million has been invested to promote sun safety to 16-24 year olds, throughout the past financial year.

“Young Australians have the highest incidence of malignant melanoma in the world and while the rates are decreasing, there is still more we can do.”

Mr Springborg said one of the components of the Project SPF campaign was to convince young women that sun protective clothing could be fashionable.

“We’re very pleased Juli Grbac has joined the Project SPF team and I know she is looking forward to viewing some of the designs Queenslanders come up with,” he said.

“The fact is all Queenslanders need to take care of their skin and we want young women to understand that wearing sun safe clothing is really important to achieve this.”

Juli Grbac said it was great to be able to use her fashion influence to contribute to a good cause.

“I obviously love fashion, in all shapes and forms so I’m really excited to see what our aspiring fashion designers come up with to meet this brief,” Ms Grbac said.

“I’m hoping this competition will help young women to think more about the dangers of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and what sun exposure can lead to.

“Protecting our skin from the sun is so important for so many reasons. It’s great if we can achieve this through fashion.’’

Entries for the Project SPF competition close on April 30. For more information visit the Project SPF Facebook page, blog or Instagram www.facebook.com/ProjectSPF

[ENDS] 4 March 2014

Media Contact: Alexandra Foley 0419 794 294

Fast Facts:

  • Queensland Health has invested $1.2 million in promoting sun safety to young Queenslanders this financial year
  • Young Australian’s have the highest incidence of malignant melanoma in the world
  • Melanoma rates for young people aged 15-29 years have decreased from 154 cases in 2000 to 139 in 2011
  • Research shows traditional campaigns are not effective when targeting young people, which is why Queensland Health is doing things differently