The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has demanded the state government impose a moratorium on new data centres, with plans to go “pretty hard” on whichever party is elected to government this November.

The announcement comes after Latrobe City Council endorsed a submission to the federal government pitching the shire as a prime location for data centre developments last month.

What happened? The peak body represents all 79 councils across Victoria and, during its October state council meeting, MAV called for a suspension on new data centres until a planning and environmental framework is established. 

  • Eight local councils raised the issue at the meeting, including the City of Ballarat and the City of Greater Geelong. 

  • A secondary motion also called for improved social, economic and environmental regulation to address water and land use concerns. 

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Who is that? MAV is a membership-based organisation, representing local councils across the state. Founded in 1897, it is the peak body advocating for the local government sector. 

At the local level: In a submission to the federal government last month, Latrobe City Council argued the region has access to everything required for new data centre developments.

Latrobe City Mayor Sharon Gibson told the Monitor the council’s submission also advocated for federal regulations covering environmental, water and community impacts.

  • “We want regulations and guidelines put in for data-centre developments, but we have a lot of land that’s not near any housing at all and would be well suited to these facilities,” said Gibson.

What Gippsland data centres? While centres have popped up in suburban Melbourne, there has only been one data centre proposed in Gippsland. 

In January, Singaporean company Keppel announced it had secured the rights to lease a 123-hectare site at Hazelwood to build and operate a data centre.

The site is within one of Gippsland’s Renewable Energy Zones (REZ), which the company said will help give the centre access to reliable and cheap energy.

Latrobe City councillor Dale Harriman argued the new industry would provide jobs to an area that is in desperate need of new employment opportunities.

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At other levels: AI and the data centres that power it have been a hot topic in 2026. 

  • In March of this year,  the Australian Government outlined initial Expectations of Data Centres and AI Infrastructure.

  • In July, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans to legislate these AI and data centre standards during a speech at the University of Sydney.

  • In August, the National Cabinet affirmed a commitment to build unified regulations. 

  • The legislation is expected to be introduced to parliament in 2027. 

The bigger picture: In Australia, the amount of data centres in development has doubled since 2025. There are currently 165 data centres, with 225 more proposed throughout the country. 

Johanna Lim, from the United States Studies Centre, told the Monitor data centres will become “the backbone of the digital economy”.

  • “They underpin our digital lives. They allow us to access the cloud, internet, banking apps, healthcare systems, transportation and use AI tools like Chat GPT and Gemini.”

What next? On November 3, the Victorian Government will enter caretaker mode in the run-up to the state election. 

MAV president Jennifer Anderson told ABC News that “once the government of the day is decided… we will go pretty hard at getting all elected state officials… to know what these priority motions were”.

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