There are currently 60 declared electrical articles that must comply with relevant safety standards. Electrical appliances and equipment not declared may be sold without first being approved; however, any product placed on the Australia market has to be electrically safe.

Most products complying with Australian standards may also be placed on the New Zealand market since Australian and New Zealand standards are harmonized.

AS/NZS 3260:1993 will be superseded by AS/NZS 60950: 2000. This standard was first published on 5 June 2000; in the AS/NZS 60950: 2000 “PREFACE” it is stated that this standard will supersede AS/NZS 3260: 1993 three years from publication.

When an approval is due for renewal, a notification letter will be sent from some Australian certification bodies, asking if the firm in question intends to renew or to allow the approval to lapse. Some other certification bodies consider it the responsibility of the certificate holder to ascertain the validity of certificates they hold, as the expiry date is clearly identified on the certificate.

If it is the client’s intention to renew an approval, the approval file is reviewed to see if there has been any significant changes to the relevant standards since the product was last tested. If there have been significant changes made to the standard, then the product has to be re-tested to be brought in line with these changes.

It is recommended that a CB test report based on IEC 60950: 1999 be submitted, as long as it also includes the Australian deviations according to AS/NZS 60950 : 2000.