Data centres would be banned from being built in residential areas in Australia amid growing community opposition to the online infrastructure plants, under a new plan.
The federal government was working on new rules for the development of the warehouses that host artificial intelligence (AI) models set to be released before the end of 2026, according to the Australian Financial Review.
It comes after news.com.au revealed on Thursday a nationally representative survey of more than 2000 Australians by News Australia found 56 per cent believe data centres are necessary infrastructure, but 61 per cent are concerned about them being built locally.
There are currently 337 data centres planned or operating across the country centralised in the nation’s biggest cities.
The federal government has been keen to bring the data centre boom to Australia with an estimated $155 billion of investment likened to the liquid natural gas explosion of the 2000s.
But there has been escalating push back to the nation’s data centre build out over issues around power supply, environmental concerns and their impact on communities.