TAL will provide free professional skin checks this summer to encourage greater awareness and preventative action around skin cancer.

The life insurer’s first SpotChecker pop-up clinic will be at Bondi Beach on December 2-3, followed by Surfer’s Paradise (December 16-17), Federation Square in Melbourne (January 27-28), Henley Beach in Adelaide (February 10-11) and City Beach in Perth (February 24-25).

GM Health Services Sally Phillips says skin cancer is among Australia’s most common cancers, with almost 14,000 people affected every year.

However, it is also one of the most easily detectable and preventable.

TAL research shows 71% of Australians have not had a professional skin check in the past year and 39% have never had one, despite 95% understanding the importance of sun safety.

A TAL employee created SpotChecker through the insurer’s annual “innovation challenge”.

Pilot pop-ups last year in Bondi and Newcastle examined 681 people and referred 14% for further checks.

TAL will work with the Royal Flying Doctor Service to take SpotChecker across the country, with the aim of checking more than 27,000 people this year.