Australia's Minister for Defence, Peter Dutton MP, has officially opened Macquarie's new high security data center in the country's capital city of Canberra.

The Intellicentre 5 Bunker (IC5) is critical infrastructure designed to support Australia's data sovereignty, national cyber security and digital skills development, according to a statement from Macquarie.

The IC5 Bunker data center was completed on time and on budget. It is part of a wider A$200 million investment by Macquarie into its sovereign Canberra and Sydney Data Center Campuses.

The facility provides a fully sovereign ecosystem in terms of supply chain, Australian Government security-cleared staff, data access and storage.

IC5 Bunker leverages the latest physical, virtual security and compliance credentials to manage highly classified government cloud workloads.

The facility is considered by the Government as critical infrastructure, given it has been designed to store important Government information.

It has also recently been Certified Strategic under the Morrison Government's Hosting Certification Framework, a measure of the trust the Government places on the facility and the sovereign controls that are applicable to it.

The unveiling comes as cyber security becomes a bigger issue in Australia following a series of cyber-attacks which have damaged media, agriculture, energy and other sectors in recent months.

Minister Dutton highlighted the importance of the nation's critical infrastructure in bolstering Australia's digital and cyber security defence capabilities.

Dutton says, "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 are essential."

Speaking at the unveiling, Macquarie Government managing director Aidan Tudehope highlighted the importance of collaboration between industry and government to combat cyber threats in Australia.

He says, “We are proud to welcome Minister for Defence, the Hon. Peter Dutton to IC5 Bunker. His interest in unveiling our facility is a measure of the government's commitment to ensuring government agencies and critical infrastructure operators and their supply chains are battle-ready for the challenges we all face in the cyber domain.

"This means protecting Australia's sovereign data and demonstrating the importance of cyber security to the whole of the Australian economy.

"Minister Dutton's leadership in introducing the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SOCI) into Parliament, and his 2020 Cyber Security Strategy, are leading the way for businesses like ours to champion and support the ongoing uplift of cyber security posture across Government and business."

Macquarie Data Centers group executive David Hirst says, “Our IC5 bunker is built to the highest physical and electronic security standards, leveraging the accelerating trend of hybrid IT and cyber security needs across government.

He says, "The delivery of this facility and Intellicentre 3 (IC3) in Sydney over the past year, when many supply chains were challenged by COVID-19, is a testament to the Macquarie Data Centers team and our partners.

"At a time when Australia needs strong economic growth, recent research has shown that data centers like these support the creation of more than 1,600 onshore jobs."