264 Australian companies expanded in September 2026, and data centres took the most land

Across the markets we track, 264 companies made 276 geographic expansion moves into or within Australia in September 2026. Woolworths Group led the count with three events. Data centres made the biggest commitments. On 30 September Real Estate Source reported that Nextdc bought 169 hectares at Lovely Banks near Geelong for approximately $165 million.

Geelong drew a second campus. HyperDC applied to build MBL1, its first campus: 400 megawatts on 40 hectares (Real Estate Source). On 29 September CDC Data Centres proposed a AUD $15 billion development on the outskirts of Wagga Wagga (ABC News Business AU). Northern Concert Swanb lodged a development application for a 10-storey data centre at Swanbank, Ipswich. More than 1200 people signed a petition against it over its environmental impacts and its proximity to homes (realestate.com.au). Planning is now the contest.

Offshore buyers moved too. Singapore's Centurion bought six Adelaide CBD sites in a 50:50 joint venture for $25m. It is the company's fourth Australian expansion in 18 months, and the plan is a mixed-use development with a $300m end value (Real Estate Source). Omni Packaging bought a $27m industrial property in Epping to bring its operations into one 10,590 sqm facility (Real Estate Source). Hallenstein Glassons now runs 41 Glassons stores in Australia and is adding a purpose-built warehouse in Sydney (Inside Retail AU).

Innatify is bringing its nursing shift-matching platform to Australian hospitals after deploying it at Europe Hospitals in Brussels (Pulse+IT). Scott Russell, founder of Innatify, said “We've proven this works in one of Europe's most complex hospital environments. Now I want to bring what we've built back home, to help Australian nurses spend less time on admin and more time doing what they signed up to do.”

All 276 events are geographic expansion moves. For Australian law firms they land as commercial and property work. The data centre campuses create the most work: site purchases on the scale of Nextdc's 169 hectares, and development applications such as HyperDC's MBL1 near Geelong. Swanbank is the contested case. There, a petition with more than 1200 signatures turns a development application into planning and environment work for the developer and for the objectors.

Offshore entrants come back with more instructions. Centurion's Adelaide joint venture needs joint venture agreements and CBD site due diligence across six sites, and it is the company's fourth Australian move in 18 months. That makes it a standing client. Museum of Illusions taking 1000sqm at 260 Collins Street and Glassons opening in Miranda are retail leasing matters for a firm's property partners and its business development team.