• ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has rejected calls to pause data-centre development while Australia completes its national standards
  • New proposals can continue through the territory's existing planning, environmental and utility processes rather than wait for the federal framework

The fact

The Australian Capital Territory government has rejected calls for a pause on new data-centre development while the federal government completes national standards for large facilities. Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the ACT would continue assessing proposals through its existing planning system, with projects required to meet current planning, environmental, utility and regulatory requirements.

The ACT government estimates that Canberra already has about 15 data centres, with another development proposed in Beard and a possible expansion in Hume. Planning rules allow data centres in industrial and services zones, as well as some broadacre areas, subject to the normal approval process. Barr said the territory's current approach is already broadly aligned with the direction of the proposed national framework, which is expected to cover issues including electricity, water and infrastructure connections.

The assessment

By rejecting a moratorium, the ACT is allowing data-centre projects to keep moving through the existing planning, utility and environmental processes instead of making developers wait for the national framework. That gives companies more certainty in the short term, because they can continue assessing sites and preparing applications under rules that are already in place, even while the federal government is still working on a broader set of standards.

The remaining uncertainty is what happens once those national rules are final. Barr says the ACT already follows much of the same approach, but the final framework could still introduce new requirements or transition rules for projects that are already under review. For BTW readers, the important point is that Canberra is not closing the door to new development, but neither is it giving projects a free pass. The first applications to move through the system while the federal standards are being completed will show whether ACT rules and the national framework fit together as closely as the government expects.

What to watch

Watch new applications in Beard and Hume, along with the final national standards expected in 2027. The important details will be whether federal rules add requirements beyond the ACT's existing planning and utility processes, and how they treat projects already under review when the framework takes effect.