Q:
'So, am I understanding this correctly? Your normal GPOs aren't switched even on the active lead?'
A: Yes, you are correct. No, they are not switched on any of the Leads.
Right or wrong, our right-most Receptacle Slot carrying the 'Hot' 120 VAC is the smaller of the two Slots. Items like a Woman's Hairpin or a Jeweler's Screwdriver would fit into that Slot, but it's skinny and hard to get to.
As is the case in all the Countries I've done Tech Biz in, our round Earthing 'prong' is longer, and connects first.
Oz Wire Color Coding finally 'grew' on me and became 2nd nature. But, it took a while.
We had an Organization called 'REA' back about the 1920s and 1930s that worked to electrify - ta da - Rural Farm areas. Chicken Coop Voltage was something like 32 Volts: our Line Voltage divided 'about' by 4. In one case well-known to many of us 'Sparkies', a fellow standing in damp Earth/Mud in a Chicken Coop was electrocuted when he touched a live Lamp Wire/Socket, and the Electricity went through his Heart. Of course, current matters a lot.
No argument from me re: your sound thinking on Voltage Lethality thresholds. The flip side of this thinking re: what one is familiar with [and what makes 'sense'] is that it took me some time to get 'comfortable' around 240 VAC about everywhere I traveled [save ~100 VAC Japan].
Last time I checked on Code with a Pro Electrician Pal, Code allows us to serially-connect up to 9 Receptacles on 1 Circuit Breaker. I over-wired my new House by about 2x, and put 4 or 5 Outlets on each 20 Amp Breaker [vs. 15 Amp Circuit Breakers used more for Lighting Circuits]. Wire is cheap, as are 'ordinary' Circuit Breakers.
Our newest Code demand is for Arc-sensing Circuit Breakers in all Bedrooms. Pricy buggers. They are supposed to sense arcs and shorts, and then trip. When I went to a Big Box Store here to get them @ USD $50-/each, they were out of Stock. Why? There had been a Manf. Recall because they were unreliable! *Guffaw*. The thinking on Arc Suppressing Circuit Breakers is that they functionally work in tandem with now-mandatory Smoke Detectors that must be installed just outside a Bedroom Door.
Circuit Breaker Discussion
THEE funkiest wiring I've run into is in Mainland China, and the former E. Germany just after The Wall came down. Anything and everything prevailed in Code-free environments. Also, the 240 VAC Demand Water Heaters IN THE METAL SHOWER STALL WITH YOU in Scotland Caravan Parks that take 'Dime' Coins fed in to keep operating totally weirded me out 1st Trip to there. There have been ~5 deaths of U.S. Soldiers in the Middle East, reportedly, from similar, incorrectly-grounded [by Sub Contractors] Demand Water Heaters. So, 'risk' - like U.S. un-switched Receptacles - is in the Eye of the proverbial Beholder, I guess.
My hunch is that other Household Accidents, like Falls, take more lives than Receptacle-related Electricity Accidents. Now, we burn down our Houses while using ill-advised Extension Cords on Space Heaters, or those Heaters near Draperies. But, that's random stupidity having nothing to do with un-switched Receptacles [GPOs].
I used to build large Sound Systems. Grounding/Earthing out at the House Sound Mixing Board runs back through the Mic 'Snake' Cabling to ground ONLY at the Amp Racks on Stage, even if Mixing Board AC Mains Power is taken from a different, remote AC Receptacle. This ensures safe, no-hum Sound Engineering via 'Single Point Grounding'.
In the old 2 Prong AC Plug days, a Stage Mic and a classic Fender Guitar Amplifier with a built-in 'Hot' - 'Neutral' reversing Switch on the rear Panel could be on different AC Mains Phases. I don't know if the Urban Myth is true that touching Guitar Strings simultaneous with putting Lips to a Mic ever killed anyone, but it causes quite a memorable 'bite'. This scenario also often passed current right through the Heart.
Wireless 'everything' on Stage has pretty much eliminated those dangers.