Victoria's A$5bn data centre queue goes on ice for the election

At a glance

• Nine data centre applications worth about A$5 billion, including Stockland's 250MVA Brooklyn campus, entered Victoria's caretaker period on 3 November 2026 undecided.

• The state's last data centre approval was granted on 6 May, to PGIM Real Estate for a campus in Melbourne's west, the AFR reported.

• Victoria did A$3.4 billion of data centre building work in 2025-26, up 163 per cent and more than half of national data centre construction, on Primara Research figures.

• Data Centres Australia says the delay puts Victorian investment at risk, and the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says it could tip the state into recession.

• Australia needs about 0.5GW of new capacity a year to reach the 3.9GW forecast for 2030. At the recent pace of about 0.2GW a year, it reaches about 2.5GW.

Victoria entered caretaker mode on 3 November 2026 with nine data centre applications worth about A$5 billion undecided, including Stockland's 250MVA campus at Brooklyn, the Australian Financial Review reported. The state did more than half of Australia's data centre building work in 2025-26, but its last data centre approval was granted on 6 May. Under the caretaker conventions those decisions pass to the government formed after the 28 November election, and The Age reported on 1 November that the Brooklyn proposal is likely to wait well into 2027. Data Centres Australia says the delay puts Victorian investment at risk, and the state's chamber of commerce says it could push Victoria into recession.

Melbourne is forecast to run 1.4GW of the 3.9GW of data centre capacity Australia expects by 2030, and the nine applications that could help get it there now wait for the next government.

Victoria did A$3.4 billion of data centre building work in 2025-26

Victoria did A$3.4 billion of data centre building work in 2025-26 across finished and unfinished projects, up 163 per cent on the year before, according to data firm Primara Research's analysis of ABS building activity data, reported by the AFR. On Primara's figures, Victoria completed new data centre work at almost five times the rate of NSW and accounted for more than half of the construction of data centres in Australia. Melbourne's operating campuses, clustered west of the city, are on the Melbourne data centre map.

Victoria's last data centre approval came on 6 May

NEXTDC's Port Melbourne campus was approved in January, 75 days after it was lodged. PGIM Real Estate, the property investment arm of US insurer Prudential Financial, won approval on 6 May for a data centre in Melbourne's west, the AFR reported.

Applications have kept coming in. Zerra DC filed in April to build six data centres on the former Ford site at Campbellfield, one of four Melbourne campuses lodged between April and July. Stockland's Brooklyn campus was lodged in May under the Development Facilitation Program, an accelerated state pathway under which the planning minister decides, and its entry on the ministerial permits register records no decision.

A seven-parcel campus at Mickleham followed on 1 July, on land Real Estate Source reported AirTrunk had bought. GreenSquareDC's 240MW Spotswood plan is also awaiting a decision.

Premier Ben Carroll's Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan, released on 22 September, sets a 150-metre buffer from homes for new sites, and applications under assessment when it was released sit outside the new rules. NEXTDC's M3 expansion at West Footscray, in Melbourne's inner west, is waiting on power: distributor Jemena paused its 15-metre power poles in September after residents objected.

Data Centres Australia says Victorian investment is at risk

Belinda Dennett, chief executive of industry body Data Centres Australia, told the AFR that investors need certainty on policy and approvals and competitive building costs, and that uncertainty over Victoria's position puts investment at risk. EY chief economist Cherelle Murphy said data centre construction and the jobs it brings would help rebalance the economy while the Reserve Bank is trying to cool demand.

Victorian Treasury cut its growth forecast for this financial year from 1.5 per cent to 1 per cent on 30 October, the AFR reported. Stephen Walters, acting chief economist at the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said a prolonged delay to data centre investment could be enough to push the state into recession, calling it "a huge risk for Victoria, and its economy".

Australia's 3.9GW forecast needs 0.5GW a year

Nationally, Australia spent a record A$24.3 billion on data centre equipment and buildings in the year to June, against A$12.7 billion a year earlier, ABS capex data shows. Customers have signed leases on 2.44GW of Australian data centres that are not yet built, 61 per cent of the planned pipeline, on Cushman & Wakefield's count.

Data Centres Australia and DC Byte forecast Australian data centre capacity reaching 3.9GW by 2030, from 1.6GW running in September 2026. Melbourne makes up 1.4GW of that 2030 figure, up from 1.1GW in the April forecast. Reaching 3.9GW needs about 0.5GW switched on each year. At the pace of the six months to September, about 0.2GW a year, Australia would have about 2.5GW running by 2030.

Investors have told Certified Strategic in private discussions that due diligence, approval and grid connection in Victoria take 18 to 24 months, so a Melbourne campus decided in 2027 still needs grid connection and construction before 2030.

What to watch

The state accounts on 18 November. The ABS publishes its annual state accounts, its measure of each state's economic output in 2025-26.

The 28 November election. The planning minister in the government formed after the vote decides the queue. Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has said new data centres would sit in designated precincts such as the Latrobe Valley rather than in or next to residential areas, the AFR reported.

The suburban ban. The Albanese government's draft AI laws, due for consultation by the end of 2026, would ban new suburban data centres, the AFR reported on 29 October.