page_title: AC power plugs and sockets
section_title: Australian/New Zealand standard AS/NZS 3112 (Type I), used in Australasia
hierarchical_section_title: AC power plugs and sockets / Types in present use / Australian/New Zealand standard AS/NZS 3112 (Type I), used in Australasia
caption_attribution_description: English: Australian AC power plug with insulation on Line (Active) and Neutral pins. Note that the Earth pin is longer than the others; this helps ensure that the Earth pin is the first to make contact and the last to break.
context_page_description: AC power plugs and sockets connect electric equipment to the alternating current power supply in buildings and at other sites. Electrical plugs and sockets differ from one another in voltage and current rating, shape, size, and connector type. Different standard systems of plugs and sockets are used around the world.
  Plugs and sockets for portable appliances became available in the 1880s, to replace connections to light sockets with wall-mounted outlets. A proliferation of types developed for both convenience and protection from electrical injury. Today there are about 20 types in common use around the world, and many obsolete socket types are found in older buildings. Coordination of technical standards has allowed some types of plug to be used across large regions to facilitate trade in electrical appliances, and for the convenience of travellers and consumers of imported electrical goods.
  Some multi-standard sockets allow use of several types of plug; improvised or unapproved adaptors between incompatible sockets and plugs may not provide the full safety and performance of an approved socket-plug combination.
context_section_description: This Australian/New Zealand standard is used in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. It defines a plug with an earthing pin, and two flat current-carrying pins which form an inverted V-shape. The flat pins measure 6.5 by 1.6 mm (0.256 by 0.063 in) and are set at 30° to the vertical at a nominal pitch of 13.7 mm (0.539 in). Australian and New Zealand wall sockets almost always have switches on them for extra safety, as in the UK. An unearthed version of this plug with two angled power pins but no earthing pin is used with double-insulated appliances, but the sockets always include an earth contact.
  There are several AS/NZS 3112 plug variants, including ones with larger or differently shaped pins used for devices drawing 15, 20, 25 and 32 A. These sockets accept plugs of equal or lower current rating, but not higher. For example, a 10 A plug will fit all sockets but a 20 A plug will fit only 20, 25 and 32 A sockets. In New Zealand, PDL 940 "tap-on" or "piggy-back" plugs are available which allow a second 10 A plug to be fitted to the rear of the plug. In Australia these piggy-back plugs are now available only on pre-made extension leads.
  Australia's standard plug/socket system was originally codified as standard C112 (floated provisionally in 1937, and adopted as a formal standard in 1938), which was superseded by AS 3112 in 1990. The requirement for insulated pins was introduced in the 2004 revision. The current version is AS/NZS 3112:2011, Approval and test specification – Plugs and socket-outlets.
caption: Standard Australian 10 A power plug with insulated pins
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