Which Australian states have a data centre policy?

Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania have dedicated data centre policies. Victoria has a Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan, South Australia has proposed a Data Centre and AI Infrastructure Act, and Tasmania has declared an AI Factory Zone. New South Wales is developing a strategy, while Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT attract investment through broader digital and economic strategies. A national framework from the Australian Government applies across all of them.

Does New South Wales have a data centre strategy?

Not a finished one yet. New South Wales released a Data Centre consultation paper in March 2026 built on five principles covering energy, water and the long-term interest of households, and it is fast-tracking major projects through an Investment Delivery Authority. A Legislative Council inquiry into the sector is due to report by 30 September 2026, and a formal Data Centre Strategy is expected to follow.

What is Victoria’s data centre action plan?

Victoria’s Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan, published in February 2026 and led by the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions, is a whole-of-government framework covering land, energy, water and workforce. It commits to choosing data centre sites using transport, energy and water data, and to managing water demand at a system level. The state values the opportunity at more than A$25 billion.

How are data centres approved in Australia?

State and territory governments control data centre planning approvals, so the pathway varies. Victoria and South Australia use facilitated pathways that treat significant projects as state-priority development, often with limited third-party appeal rights. New South Wales fast-tracks major projects through an Investment Delivery Authority. Smaller facilities typically proceed through standard council or state planning processes.

What is the Australian Government’s national data centre framework?

In March 2026 the Australian Government published its Expectations of data centres and AI infrastructure developers under the National AI Plan. It asks operators to fund new clean energy generation or storage, pay their full grid-connection and network costs, and operate as a flexible load that supports grid stability. The Expectations apply nationally, sitting over the individual state and territory plans.

Australian data centre policy by state: which governments have a plan

At a glance

Three jurisdictions have a dedicated data centre policy instrument: Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
Victoria’s Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan coordinates land, grid, water and workforce, and the state values the opportunity at more than A$25 billion.
New South Wales is consulting on a Data Centre Strategy and fast-tracking major projects through its Investment Delivery Authority, with a parliamentary inquiry reporting by 30 September.
South Australia has proposed a Data Centre and AI Infrastructure Act that ties faster approvals to new firmed renewable supply, announced but not yet introduced to parliament.
Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT are attracting investment through broader digital and economic strategies, under a national framework the Australian Government set in March 2026.

Which states have a data centre policy

Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania have dedicated data centre policies. New South Wales is drafting one. Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT are attracting data centre investment through broader digital and economic strategies rather than a standalone plan. Over the top of all of them sits a national framework the Australian Government published in March 2026.

The pattern matters because state and territory governments control the planning approvals that decide where data centres are built. The same investment is choosing Australia as a whole, so the policy lessons each jurisdiction generates on land, grid, water and community consent transfer across borders. The table below summarises where each government stands.

Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania lead with dedicated plans

Victoria published its Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan through the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions. It coordinates land, energy, water and workforce across government and points to choosing sites using transport, energy and water data. The state puts the opportunity at more than A$25 billion. The first test of that approach is now live in Geelong, where NextDC has bought 169 hectares at Lovely Banks beside a transmission line.

South Australia has gone furthest toward dedicated legislation. It has opened an essential-infrastructure planning pathway for data centres and has announced a proposed Data Centre and AI Infrastructure Act, not yet tabled, that would link faster approvals to projects arriving with their own new firmed renewable supply, as we covered in South Australia’s clean-power plan to win AI data centres. The pitch is already landing capital, with IREN building an 800MW campus at Bundey.

Tasmania has taken a targeted route, declaring what the state calls a world-first AI Factory Zone in its north that clears the planning path for large AI campuses on its near-100 per cent renewable grid. That zone underpins Firmus’s Project Southgate, which sits behind a new subsea cable into the mainland network.

New South Wales is writing its strategy now

New South Wales hosts the largest pipeline but has not finished its policy. It released a Data Centre consultation paper in March 2026 setting out five principles on energy, water and the long-term interest of households, which we examined in detail, and it is fast-tracking major projects through an Investment Delivery Authority, as covered in our analysis of how NSW is competing for data centre capital. A Legislative Council inquiry is due to report by 30 September, and a formal Data Centre Strategy is expected to follow.

Queensland, WA, the NT and the ACT compete on investment

The remaining jurisdictions are pursuing the build without a dedicated data centre plan.

Queensland attracts investment through its Advance Queensland and digital-economy roadmaps, with projects such as the Supernode complex in Moreton Bay and NextDC’s Sunshine Coast expansion proceeding under general planning.

Western Australia has a government digital strategy and heavy subsea-cable investment, and its own business chamber is urging the state to publish a dedicated data centre strategy.

The Northern Territory runs a Digital Territory strategy and the Terabit Territory network, positioning Darwin as a gateway to South East Asia.

The ACT has a government digital strategy, with its data centre footprint serving public-sector demand.

A national framework sits over every state

In March 2026 the Australian Government published its Expectations of data centres and AI infrastructure developers under the National AI Plan. The framework asks operators to bring new clean energy, pay their full grid-connection and network costs, and run as a flexible load that supports the grid. It applies across every jurisdiction, so the state plans sit underneath a single national standard rather than competing rulebooks.

What to watch

Three things will move this picture. Commonwealth, state and territory energy ministers weigh the national energy settings together in July. The NSW inquiry reports by 30 September, with a Data Centre Strategy expected to follow. And Queensland and Western Australia are the jurisdictions to watch for a dedicated plan next, as their pipelines grow.