This research was undertaken as part of the national monitoring of sun exposure and related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. In addition to monitoring, this project helps to inform the activities of the skin cancer prevention sector, which includes HPA's sun safety programme. The Sun Exposure Survey is an ongoing, triennial survey that has been conducted since 1994. Data collection waves prior to 2013 also involved the Cancer Society of New Zealand and the University of Otago.
The survey has undergone re-developments at different times, the most recent occurring in 2010. These re-developments were strategically conducted to ensure high quality research methodology and data collection procedures while maintaining to the extent possible comparability to previous years' data.