Australia to set new laws to regulate use of power and water by data centres

No such laws exist in Ireland, the data centre capital of the world, home to 89 data centres. 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet the country’s leaders next month to discuss the legislation, which will be introduced next year.

The aim of the measure is to set legal obligations for data centres, such as requiring them to put more water into the electricity grid than they take out, and minimising water usage.

A specific office, called “Office of AI”, will be created at the heart of the government for its purpose. 

As Australia does not have any specific AI regulations, growing concerns include AI leading to job losses and higher energy costs. 

“We should not treat AI as a threat to good jobs. We should use it as an instrument to create them,” said Prime Minister Albanese.

Despite the  European Commission having collected data like energy efficiency and water consumption from data centres since early 2024, the majority of this information is hidden from the public view. 

The tech industry has successfully lobbied this data and managed to keep it as confidential. So it is technically unknown how much water they exactly use.  

A hosepipe ban currently implemented in parts of the country does not apply to data centres, sparking outrage that citizens must change their behaviour while large companies continue unaffected.