Google Melbourne data center, Melbourne, Victoria

Google's Melbourne data center capacity is its Google Cloud region australia-southeast2 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, which opened in July 2021 as Google's second Australian region after Sydney. Google says the region has three availability zones but has not said which buildings in greater Melbourne host it.

"One of the big factors that was driving this [region] is the idea of building disaster recovery and business continuity across Australia," Google's Matt Zwolenski said at the launch. Australia Post, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and Optus were named as early customers.

Victoria has just set out new rules for data centers. On September 22, 2026 Premier Ben Carroll announced that new data centers must supply their own renewable energy, may not use drinking water for cooling, may not be built near schools or childcare centers, and must sit at least 150 meters from homes. "Data centres must power themselves, protect homes and pay their way," Carroll said. The rules will not apply to planning applications already cleared or to eight now before the planning minister, and Carroll gave no date for the planning changes. Data Centres Australia chief executive Belinda Dennett called the changes "disappointing", while the Greens, who want a moratorium, called them a win for communities.

About 50 data centers already operate in Victoria, mostly in Melbourne's west, where residents fought high-voltage power poles for NextDC's West Footscray data center until the distributor Jemena halted the work in September 2026. The state has sent several data center applications straight to the planning minister under its Development Facilitation Program, bypassing local councils.

Victorians vote in a state election on November 28, and a Senate inquiry into AI and data centers was scheduled to hold hearings in Melbourne on September 23; Google has not said whether it plans more capacity in the state.