In March, the Federal Government released a new set of national expectations for developers of data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure, outlining requirements across energy use, water management, workforce skills and access to computing capacity.
The announcement is expected to shape the next phase of Australia’s digital infrastructure investment as demand for AI technologies continues to accelerate.
The Tech Council of Australia, which represents Australian startups, scale-ups, global technology companies and digital infrastructure providers, said it would work closely with members to assess the implications of the new framework.
According to the council, data centres are becoming a critical component of Australia’s AI capability, digital economy and research sector. It said the right policy settings would help position Australia as an attractive destination for technology companies looking to invest, expand operations and create highly skilled jobs.
The framework also includes a commitment to make computing capacity available to startups and researchers on favourable terms
The Tech Council described the move as an important step that supports innovation and aligns with the goals outlined in the Ambitious Australia report from the Strategic Examination of Research and Development, which identified access to capital and advanced infrastructure as essential to growing Australia’s technology sector.
It said Australia has a significant long-term opportunity in developing AI applications and that broader access to compute infrastructure could help transform the current wave of data centre investment into sustained local innovation, enabling Australian businesses and researchers to develop new technologies domestically.
Australia’s Data Centre Investment Pipeline Surges Past $155 Billion
Australia’s data centre boom is moving from property story to national infrastructure story, with Westpac estimating the investment pipeline will exceed $155 billion, equal to about 5.6% of annual GDP.
The bank expects the rollout to deliver a net domestic GDP boost of around $75 billion and temporarily support about 400,000 jobs as construction, fit-outs and related activity accelerate.
Demand is being driven by cloud computing, AI workloads and sovereign data requirements. Australia’s deployable data centre capacity is projected to more than double from 1,350MW in 2024 to 3,100MW by 2030, with more than $26 billion in additional investment forecast over that period.
The scale of the buildout has forced data centres into the centre of national policy. The Federal Government has now set expectations covering energy, water, skills, national security and access to compute, signalling that future projects will need to prove they can support Australia’s digital economy
While welcoming the direction of the policy, the Tech Council noted that the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure brings important responsibilities. It said the finer details of implementation will be critical and pledged to work with government as the national expectations are rolled out.