Late last year, in the busy days leading up to Christmas, Ms Chant noticed a small mole on her arm had changed shape and colour.

Unaware it was a stage two melanoma, Ms Chant said she questioned if she should wait until the new year before going to get the mole checked.

"It scares me now because they can change so rapidly within a short period of time," she said. "A melanoma can go from stage one to stage four in just six weeks".

The early childhood educator said she had always been careful but had become "blasé" with her skin checks over the past 12 months. She also said that there had been no history of skin cancer in her family.

When Ms Chant went to her appointment on December 18, they took a biopsy which required a large incision on her arm. Five days later, she received a phone call informing her it was a stage two melanoma and she had to return so they could take a larger biopsy to be sure the melanoma hadn't progressed to her lymph nodes.

"I was flooded with emotions, and there was the anxious uncertainty of not knowing what this would mean," she said.

"I was very emotional because it was Christmas Eve and I was seeing all my family and my children without knowing the results. You know, things go through your head like enjoy every moment and just trying to be positive that you're going to be around for your children."

On January 4, Ms Chant finally got the relieving call that she was in the clear but will need to have monthly check-ups over the next two years.

"Now, I tell everyone to get their skin checked. If you're unsure about something, just go get it checked and don't wait," Ms Chant said. "I recently did an Instagram post and I got messages from about 20 people. A couple of them picked up on things, like one girl had a melanoma and she'd never had a skin check before."

Ms Chant is also going to take her children, Milla, 4, and Angus, 7, to her next skin check appointment. "Melanoma can be hereditary and genetic, and now I've been diagnosed, they are at a greater risk and it's better to be safe."

Melanoma Institute of Australia chief executive officer Matthew Browne said the risk of getting melanoma was significantly higher if you were sunburnt as a child.

"It's not surprising that melanoma is the most common cancer from 15 to 39-year-olds, but it's still common among older age groups," he said. "It's a very serious disease if it's not detected early. The danger is that by the time you are diagnosed, it has already spread or very close to have spread into your blood stream."

Roughly 50 per cent of people with advanced melanoma will die from the disease within five years, with an estimated 1300 deaths each year. Australia has the highest melanoma rates in the world and Mr Browne calls melanoma Australia's national cancer.

"The vast majority of melanoma in Australia is sun-related," Mr Browne said. "The message of being sun safe is out there but people are not always adhering to it."

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Melanoma Institute of Australia's national Melanoma March campaign. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year Australians can take part by buying a $30 digital footprint in support of the one Aussie every 30 minutes who is told they have melanoma.

"It's an opportunity for all Australians to take part, even if you're not directly impacted by melanoma. We urge everyone to buy by a digital footprint and to help us rid ourselves of Australia's national cancer," Mr Browne said.

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