Data Architecture

A National Framework for Sustainable Digital Infrastructure

Alexander Hoysted

The digital future is about power, planning and policy. As AI models scale and data centre demand surges, their absence from our policy frameworks starts to look like a glaring miss. We urgently need a national framework that ensures growth in this industry is clean, resilient and inclusive.

AI + Data Centres = Pressure

Central to our digital economy, data centres aren’t niche players catering to cloud workloads anymore, but they are very power hungry. The EU estimates data centres already account for ~3 % of electricity demand, while in Australia it is projected to rise to 6% by 2030 - potentially much more if AI growth predictions prove true.

We have the third-largest pipeline of data centres planned in the world. Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon Brooks of Atlassian want to make us a global epicentre (even pivoting their Suncable project to a data project). We have plentiful land for this infrastructure.

But the demand pipeline and political enthusiasm for an exciting growth industry brings a new challenge; planning and powering data centres to be net-zero.

EU Leads

The European Union has moved ahead with a binding framework for data-centres under the recast Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). For example:

• Data-centres above 500 KW must report key performance indicators (power and water use efficiency, and renewable energy factor). Danfoss

• The regulation requires publication of these metrics energy use and type to a European database. Energy

• The drive is from “green ambition” to “green accountability” in digital infrastructure. DataCenters

This policy certainty gives industry clarity about where new builds can go, how they will be regulated, and aligns with what investors expect.

Australia Lags

Contrast that with current Australian standards:

• No national standard requiring data-centres to disclose real-time energy source, water use, emissions or location in REZs. Reuters found just 3 in 10 new data centre applications had an estimate for water use.

• No directive on end-of-life strategies, heat reuse or recycling of IT equipment.

• No accredited efficiency requirements for data centres (beyond a 5-Star NABERS requirement for Federal Government workloads)

• No governmental investment signals or ‘carrots’ to link renewable investment with this power-hungry industry.

Whilst industry momentum exists - data-centre growth and a regional push for more economic opportunities - the regulatory backbone is missing.

The risk: we build fast, but on the wrong terms—data-centres located where the grid is carbon-intensive, or approvals issued without a clear path to net-zero power and unsustainable water consumption.

Urgency

Data centres take about 4 years from conception to opening and operate for up to 20 years. Each new build carries inertia when plugged into a dirty grid, it acts as a powerful incentive for the status quo for many years to come. 

Industry growth in this space won’t wait for policy.

What a National Framework Should Do

To align digital growth, clean power and regional benefit, Australia needs a coherent national policy framework that:

• Sets reporting requirements for large data-centres (similar to the EU’s KPI scheme) covering energy source, water, emissions.

• Creates a national database or registry of data-centre builds, energy consumption and carbon performance, so transparency becomes standard.

• Provides investment certainty for industry and regions: policy clarity on how many new builds, where, under what conditions, so industry can commit and regions can benefit.

• Ensures social and regional benefit: data-centre expansion in regional zones includes jobs, local investment, and a clear exit-strategy, so prosperity is regional, not extractive.

The Big Picture

Farquhar was right; we’ve got the land, law and labor to capture the upsides of a digital economy. But it won’t happen by chance; we have to choose how we want to build it, and we have to choose how we want the future to look.

This is the infrastructure for the infrastructure, the bones of the digital economy. The EU is no perfect model, but it shows how regulation can convert industry hype into an actionable framework. 

Let’s ensure that Australia’s Data Centre boom is underpinned by sound policy so that we all see the benefit for years to come.