Victoria announced new rules for data centres on September 22, 2026. Under the strategy unveiled by Premier Ben Carroll, new data centres will have to provide their own renewable energy and storage, will be banned from using drinking water for cooling, must sit at least 150 metres from homes, will not be permitted near schools and childcare centres, and must pay into a local investment fund to help build TAFEs and parks. "Data centres must power themselves, protect homes and pay their way," Carroll said. Belinda Dennett, chief executive of the industry body Data Centres Australia, called the changes "disappointing", arguing that the 150-metre setback "singles data centres out" for a restriction that comparable industrial uses do not face. Greens MP Sarah Mansfield called the announcement a "huge win for communities" but said the government should provide "acoustic modelling and health and environmental advice" behind the 150-metre buffer. The rules will not apply to projects already approved or to eight applications currently before the planning minister.
Before the change, the state had been fast-tracking projects. Its Development Facilitation Program lets developers bypass the local council and VCAT appeals and apply directly to the planning minister; NextDC had a $1 billion data centre in Port Melbourne approved by the minister within 75 days. In Campbellfield, on the site of a former Ford car factory in the state's north, Singapore-headquartered Zerra DC applied through the same program for a 210,000 square metre, 336 megawatt campus. A petition against it started by local resident Sophie Hopkins passed 1,000 signatures, and even the local Labor MP, Kathleen Matthews-Ward, said the site "would be best used for productive and advanced manufacturing."
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The water ban follows documents released under freedom of information in 2025 showing that the water company Greater Western Water was reviewing 19 data centre applications requesting a combined 19,714 megalitres of drinking water a year, enough to supply about 330,000 residents. One proposal at Mt Cottrell alone could consume up to 3,926 megalitres. "We really are at a crossroads," said Professor Tim Fletcher of the University of Melbourne.
The power side is tighter still. Data centres in Victoria are permitted to draw up to 840 megawatts but, according to market operator data, currently consume about a quarter of that; their consumption is set to quadruple by 2030, and the Yallourn coal plant is scheduled to close in 2028. That demand has revived the fight over two proposed transmission lines, the Western Renewables Link and the VNI West interconnector, which face opposition from landholders in western Victoria.
Projects not tied to an area
Sites whose records name no county. Everything else is on the pages listed above.
Victoria13
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keppel Morwell Energy Campus (Victoria)VIC | Keppel (Keppel DC REIT) | Proposed | 720 MW | |
| CDC BrooklynBrooklyn VIC | CDC Data Centers | 350 MW | ||
| NEXTDC M3 MelbourneVIC | NEXTDC | 225 MW | ||
| AirTrunk MEL1 (Melbourne West)VIC | AirTrunk (Blackstone) | 185 MW | ||
| STACK Melbourne (MEL01)VIC | STACK Infrastructure | 180 MW | ||
| NEXTDC M2 MelbourneVIC | NEXTDC | 120 MW | ||
| Southgate MelbourneMelbourne | Firmus | 41 MW | ||
| NEXTDC M1 MelbourneVIC | NEXTDC | 16 MW | ||
| NEXTDC GE1 GeelongVIC | NEXTDC | Under construction | 4.4 MW | Source off site ↗ |
| AWS Cobblebank (Melbourne)VIC | Amazon Web Services | Proposed | Not reported | |
| Digital Realty Melbourne (MEL10/MEL11 72 Radnor)VIC | Digital Realty | Not reported | ||
| Google MelbourneMelbourne | Not reported | |||
| NEXTDC M4 MelbourneVIC | NEXTDC | Approved | Not reported |
Where this comes from
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Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.