Defence and defence-industry buildings impose a level of zoning, physical separation and emissions-security discipline rarely encountered on commercial Australian ELV projects. A designer moving from commercial work into this space for the first time needs a genuine orientation, not an assumption that stricter versions of familiar practices will suffice.
Security Zoning Under SCEC Governs Everything Downstream
Security zoning, defined under Security Construction and Equipment Committee (SCEC) guidance, classifies areas of a facility by sensitivity level, and that classification dictates physical construction standards, access control rigour, and — critically for ELV and ICT design — what cabling and equipment can pass between zones of different classification, and under what controls. A design brief for a defence facility needs the zoning plan established early and treated as a hard constraint on every subsequent ELV decision, not a compliance checklist applied after the layout is otherwise finalised.
Pathway Separation: A Discipline Beyond Commercial Cable Segregation
- Cabling for classified and unclassified systems typically needs genuine physical separation — separate containment, separate penetrations through zone boundaries — to prevent unauthorised signal coupling or physical tampering access between systems of different sensitivity.
- This goes well beyond the cable-type segregation (power vs data, for instance) common in commercial ELV design, and needs explicit documentation of which containment runs carry which classification, reviewed as part of the accreditation process.
- Intruder-alarm classes under AS 2201 apply with additional rigour in defence-adjacent facilities, and the specific class required needs confirming against the project's security classification, not assumed from a generic commercial standard.
TEMPEST: Understand the Scope Before Assuming It Applies Everywhere
TEMPEST refers to standards and practices controlling compromising electromagnetic emanations from electronic equipment that could allow information to be intercepted remotely. It applies to specific classified systems and zones within a facility, with shielding and cable-routing requirements that a designer needs to confirm against project-specific accreditation requirements — treating TEMPEST as a blanket requirement across an entire facility, rather than the specific zones and systems it genuinely applies to, both over-specifies unnecessary cost in low-sensitivity areas and risks under-specifying it in the areas that actually need it.
Design takeaway: Establish the security zoning plan and confirm TEMPEST scope with the project's security accreditation authority before ELV design proceeds — these constraints shape pathway routing, containment separation and equipment selection in ways that are extremely costly to retrofit once construction documentation is underway.
Documentation for Accreditation
Defence and defence-industry facility handover requires documentation that supports formal security accreditation — as-built records showing pathway separation was maintained as designed, zone boundary crossings and their controls, and equipment compliance evidence — a documentation standard materially more rigorous than typical commercial ELV as-builts, and one that should be scoped and budgeted from the start of the project rather than assembled retrospectively at handover.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a security zone in the context of Australian defence facility design?
Security zoning, as defined under SCEC (Security Construction and Equipment Committee) guidance, classifies areas of a facility by sensitivity, dictating physical construction standards, access control rigour and — critically for ICT design — what cabling and equipment can pass between zones of different classification without additional controls.
Why does pathway separation matter more in defence facilities than commercial buildings?
Cabling for classified and unclassified systems typically needs physical separation — different containment, different penetrations through zone boundaries — to prevent unauthorised signal coupling or physical tampering access between systems of different sensitivity, a discipline that goes well beyond the cable-type segregation common in commercial ELV design.
What is TEMPEST and when does it apply to Australian defence ICT design?
TEMPEST refers to standards and practices for controlling compromising electromagnetic emanations from electronic equipment that could allow information to be intercepted — it applies to specific classified systems and zones, with shielding and cable-routing requirements that a designer needs to confirm against project-specific accreditation requirements rather than assume apply uniformly across a whole facility.