CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTER: Many people seem to think they're safe climbing into one of these - they believe they won't get skin cancer because they're not out in the sun.

But there's no such thing as a safe tan here!

CLARE OLIVER: Here I am, 25 and I've been told that I've got only a few weeks to live and I don't think anything... you know, solariums, looking good, having a golden tan... is worth that.

Last week, Clare Oliver died from skin cancer, but in the weeks before she passed away she did a pretty amazing thing.

She began a campaign to warn people about the dangers of a deadly tan.

She believes her use of Solariums as a teenager helped caused her disease - some doctors are also worried about a link.

CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTER: Let's just take a look at what skin cancer actually is.

Well for starters it's mainly caused by Ultraviolet radiation from the sun - you've probably heard people refer to them as UV rays.

They travel all the way from the sun to the earth's surface and into your skin, but they're totally invisible and you can't feel them.

Lots of exposure to UV rays can damage the skin cells and cause them to grow abnormally into a cancerous lump.

The cancerous cells can then invade the body through the blood stream.

So basically skin cancer is a disease of the skin cells.

Melanoma, is the name of the most serious form of skin cancer.

It may appear as a new spot on your skin, or there may be a change in the look of a mole or freckle you already have.

Melanoma is actually the most common form of cancer amongst the 15 to 30 year old age group.

Clare was first diagnosed with Melanoma four years ago.

CLARE OLIVER: I was just a 22-year-old, just graduated from uni, and just got into the work force and, yeah, it was all great and then suddenly my world came crashing down.

While there have been lots of ad campaigns warning people about the dangers of the UV Rays from the sun many people don't seem to realise that UV Rays are what beam out of solariums.

CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTER: But the UV Rays in solariums can be up to five times more powerful than the midday sun!

And the scary thing is, in the past ten years the number of solariums in Australia has tripled.

Until now the solarium industry has operated with what's called a voluntary code of conduct, that means the industry has set it's own rules.

Clare has helped change this.

A week after bravely sharing her story; Governments agreed to crack down on solariums right across the country, with much tougher regulations.

Clare's sad story has touched many people.

CLARE OLIVER: In one week and a bit it's my 26th birthday and I sit here and I don't know whether I'm going to make that.

Clare got her wish and made it to her 26th Birthday. She celebrated it at Luna park with her mum, friends and her doctors.

She passed away 2 and a half weeks later, but her dying wish was that her message would help save others.