Macquarie opens new high-security data centre in Canberra

Australia’s Minister for Defence, Peter Dutton MP, officially opened Macquarie Data Centres’ Intellicentre 5 Bunker (IC5) in Canberra.

Built specifically to support government data, IC5 is IRAP and DISP accredited and is capable of housing up to Zone 5 top secret data.

The facility, part of a wider AU$200 million investment by Macquarie, provides a fully sovereign ecosystem in terms of the supply chain, Australian Government security-cleared staff, data access and storage.

Speaking at the unveiling event Minister Dutton said, “The need to secure data to protect Australian businesses and government has been a maturing conversation over the last few years. The threat is evolving. We know there is increasing investment in penetrating systems throughout the world. To meet that threat, the Systems of National Significance Legislation and the Securing of Critical Infrastructure Legislation is essential.”

IC5 Bunker leverages the latest physical, virtual security and compliance credentials to manage highly classified government cloud workloads. The facility has recently been Certified Strategic under the Morrison government’s Hosting Certification Framework, a measure of the trusted government places on the facility and the sovereign controls that are applicable to it.

Macquarie Data Centres Group Executive David Hirst said, “Our IC5 bunker is built to the highest physical and electronic security standards, leveraging the accelerating trend of hybrid IT and cybersecurity needs across government.

“The delivery of this facility and Intellicentre 3 (IC3) in Sydney over the past year, when many supply chains were challenged by COVID, is a testament to the Macquarie Data Centres team and our partners. At a time when Australia needs strong economic growth, recent research has shown that data centres like these support the creation of more than 1600 onshore jobs.”

Image credit: Macquarie Data Centres