Sunglass testing

Requirements for sunglasses in Australia

Any glasses that claim to be sunglasses or fashion spectacles and are sold for that purpose must comply with the Australian and New Zealand standard, AS/NZS 1067.1:2016: Eye and face protection – Sunglasses and fashion spectacles. This standard applies to uniformly tinted, polarising, photochromic and gradient tinted lenses. Copies of the sunglass standard are available from Standards Australia. The retailer, distributor or importer is responsible for ensuring that sunglasses comply with the standard.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), as part of their Product Safety Australia initiative, summarises the requirements for sunglasses on their webpage Sunglasses & Fashion Spectacles including a downloadable supplier guide. State governments publish sunglass fair trading compliance guidelines, check the relevant fair trading websites for up-to-date information. ARPANSA also publishes a fact sheet on sunglasses and protection from solar UVR.

Sunglass testing at ARPANSA

ARPANSA operates a service for measuring the transmission properties of all types of sunglasses and visors. The UVR and visible transmission of the lenses are measured in accordance with the optical transmittance requirements of Section 5 of AS/NZS 1067.1:2016: Eye and face protection – Sunglasses and fashion spectacles.

We currently issue test reports to these sections of the standard, which will assist in the labelling of your products:
•    4.1 (construction)
•    4.2 (filter material and quality)
•    5.2 (transmittance and filter categories)
•    5.3 (General transmittance requirements)
•    11 (eye coverage and field of view)

If you have test reports for the sunglasses that are done to other international sunglass standards, then only the Sections 5.2, 5.3.1 and 5.3.2 are required to be tested to determine the Australian labelling requirements, i.e. the transmission testing we currently perform, as all other parts of the standard are equivalent. 

Note that sunglasses sent to ARPANSA cannot be returned as the testing procedures require the lenses be removed from the frame, marked and in some cases cut into smaller pieces. Allow up to ten working days for the testing of the lenses.

Schedule of charges

Some types of lenses require more time-consuming testing procedures and the charges reflect the amount of work involved.

Prices quoted are in Australian dollars.

Sunglass testing request form

Please complete the online sunglass testing request webform to request testing of your samples.

After completing the form, you can send your sunglass samples to:

UVR Services
ARPANSA
619 Lower Plenty Road
Yallambie VIC 3085
Australia

Sample sunglass report

Re-issue of test reports

If you require changes to a test report after it has been issued, a processing charge of $35 per report will apply.