This information may change. Always check the official source.Last verified: August 2026 by Ondřej Kadlec
Sockets and voltage in Australia
Type IAS/NZS 3112Earthed
Voltage
230 V
Frequency
50 Hz
Earthed sockets
Type I
What you need, by where you are coming from
Arriving from the United States or CanadaA plug adapter, and appliances marked 100-240 V. Anything single-voltage needs a converter.
Arriving from the UK or IrelandA plug adapter is enough - the voltage is the same as at home.
Arriving from most of continental EuropeA plug adapter is enough - the voltage is the same as at home.
Socket types, voltage and frequency are the nominal domestic supply as published in IEC/TR 60083 and the national standards it lists.
Australian sockets are Type at 230 V, the angled two-blade plug with a vertical earth, and nearly every outlet has its own switch.
Sockets in Australia are Type at 230 V, 50 Hz - two flat blades set in a V with a vertical earth blade below.
Almost every socket has a switch beside it. A plugged-in charger that is doing nothing usually means the switch is off, not that the socket is dead.
New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea use the same plug, and so does mainland China at 10 A - a Chinese plug fits an Australian socket and vice versa.
European, British and American plugs all need an adapter. Nothing from those standards fits.
230 V matches Europe. American 120 V-only appliances need a converter, not just an adapter.
Adapters are sold in Kmart, Coles and Woolworths rather than only in travel shops.
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