☕️ Victoria bans data centres in residential areas

Here is today’s trivia question: What happens in the event of a draw at the AFL Grand Final?

Answer is in the titbit!

The quote: “Participants were often aware of ultra-fast fashion’s environmental impact, but this knowledge did not necessarily change their behaviour.”
An RMIT study has found most online shoppers prioritise price, convenience “and the desire for something new” over sustainability concerns.

The stat: 905,117. The number of faces Western Australia Police has scanned using live facial recognition. WA Police says it uses the tech to find “individuals wanted for serious offences” or who are “a risk to themselves or the community”, and deletes anyone else.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 66% of you don’t think Triple Zero should be phone companies’ responsibility, 20% do, and 13% don’t know. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [2,176 votes].

Together with AAP.

The Victorian Government has announced plans to ban new data centres near schools and childcare centres, as well as in rural areas that cannot support them.

The restrictions are part of the State Government’s new Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan, which sets out rules for where and how data centres can be developed.

Data centres are large warehouses filled with computer servers.

The demand for data centres has exploded due to the widespread adoption of AI. Companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic need data centres to develop (or “train”) their AI models. Data centres are also used to answer prompts in real time, known as “inference”.

Many communities have opposed the construction of data centres due to the possible environmental impacts.

Australia’s energy operator, AEMO, forecasts data centres will use around 13% of the National Electricity Market (the grid covering Australia’s eastern and southern states) by 2036, up from around 3% today.

In 2025, the ABC obtained documents under Freedom of Information laws showing 19 data centres had applied to use close to 20 gigalitres of Melbourne’s drinking water a year.

Under Victoria’s new rules, data centres must use their own renewable energy supply and storage, and use recycled or non-drinking water for cooling.

They can’t be built near schools or childcare centres, in rural areas that can’t support them, or within 150m of any homes.

They will have to hire and train Victorians, have a traffic management plan during construction and operation, and benefit the local community through the creation of jobs, TAFEs, parks and more.

Responding to TDA, the Premier’s office said the changes were Government policy, rather than an election commitment, and said legislation was not required.

The office said the powers to make the changes sit within the planning system.

The Planning Minister can make these changes without legislation.

“You can’t trust Labor to fix the mess they created on data centres. It was Labor that put them in residential areas, in the green wedge and locked locals out of any community consultation,” Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson told TDA.

Reporting by Adam Wan.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, editor-in-chief Billi explains what housing could look like in Australia by 2066. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.

🎾 Want to know the biggest storylines across women’s and men’s sports? Sign up to TDA Sport here for a full run-down in your inbox at 4.30pm.

🏈 This hotel room comes with Super Bowl tickets (plus flights). Marriott Bonvoy are turning a SoFi Stadium suite into a room for one winner. Enter here.

^{Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.}

The NSW Government has introduced legislation to allow victim-survivors of sexual assault to submit pre-recorded evidence for some court cases.

A pilot program will also permit courts in parts of the state to set parameters for the questioning of complainants during pre-trial “ground rules” hearings.

“Victim-survivors are experiencing significant harm and trauma from going through the court process. They describe it as ‘a second rape’. It is that traumatic,” Jacinta Masters from gender equality advocacy group Fair Agenda told TDA.

Federally, pre-recorded evidence is only allowed for child witnesses. Some states, including NSW and Victoria, also allow it for witnesses with cognitive impairments.

The Australian Law Reform Commission recommended giving sexual offence victim-survivors this option in 2010.

In May, Victorian Upper House MP Georgie Purcell proposed changes, including pre-recording evidence and protecting victim-survivors counselling records in sexual offence cases. The State Government supports the proposal, but has delayed introducing it until after the November election.

On Tuesday, NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley introduced reforms to Parliament addressing three areas:

‘Ground rules’ hearings pilot

Recorded evidence

Protections for private records

The legislation was introduced in NSW Parliament on Tuesday. MPs will now review it before what’s known as a ‘Second Reading Debate’ – an opportunity for any amendments to be introduced.

NSW Parliament will sit again in mid-October. The state’s Labor Government will need support from the Opposition Coalition or members of the crossbench to pass the reforms in the upper house.

In a statement to TDA, NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane said “we should do whatever we can to support victim survivors of sexual assault through the criminal justice process,” but noted that it is “important we get any changes right”.

1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

How did an ad of Sydney Sweeney posing with sports gear turn Olympic gold medallists into activists overnight?

To the trained eye, it's a lesson in how fast an ad becomes a referendum on how women in sport are treated. To everyone else, it's a sign you'd like TDA Culture: our newsletter on the moments everyone's talking about.

Sign up below and get sharp, shareable pop culture breakdowns, straight to your inbox every Thursday arvo.

Despite years of breakthrough research in the field of neurological disease, treatment innovations have lagged behind. To address this need, the university formally launched the Brain Institute and Clinic on Monday. Unlike traditional centres, this facility will unite research and clinical care services under one roof. It’s hoped this model will allow for discoveries to be translated into treatment more quickly, and give patients a direct role in “advancing understanding of neurological disease.”

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Singing lemurs may be using an opera singer’s trick to make their voices carry further.

Researchers found indris (a type of lemur) open their mouths wider when hitting higher notes, suggesting they could be tuning their vocal tracts like trained human singers. The critically endangered species sing to mark their territory, avoid conflicts and sometimes find each other again after getting separated in the rainforest.

No wonder King Julien is so loud in Madagascar.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.

Trivia answer: The teams play extra time, which might seem obvious. But I mostly wanted an excuse to tell you that before 2016, a draw meant both teams had to come back the next week and play the whole Grand Final again. This happened in 2010 when Collingwood and St Kilda drew. Imagine!