Does Azure OpenAI (Microsoft Foundry Models) keep data in Australia?

Foundry Models sold by Azure and Azure Content Understanding, which store all customer data at rest in the Geo selected by the customer (except in limited fine-tuning and training scenarios as described here), but (i) for any model deployment type labeled as ‘Global,’ may process prompts and completions sent to and output by that deployment, for inferencing or fine-tuning, in any Microsoft Foundry region globally, and (ii) for any model deployment type labeled as ‘DataZone,’ may process prompts and completions sent to and output by that deployment, for inferencing or fine-tuning, within the specified data zone, as defined by Microsoft

Note: Unclear: Microsoft's documentation says Azure OpenAI data stays in 'the Geo selected by the customer' but does not state in a sentence that an Australian geography is available for Azure OpenAI at rest; Australia East appears only in region tables. The same page says Microsoft may replicate within a Geo. Limited fine-tuning/training and Global/DataZone fine-tune weight scenarios can temporarily store data outside the selected Geo.

Standard and Regional Provisioned types: Prompts and responses are processed within the customer-specified Azure geography and might be processed between regions within that geography for operational purposes.

Note: Only Standard (SKU Standard) and Regional Provisioned (ProvisionedManaged) keep inference in the Australia geography when the resource is in Australia East. Global types may process in any Azure region. Asia Pacific Data Zone types may process in any APAC nation. Developer tier has no data-residency guarantee. Model availability in australiaeast varies by model and deployment type.

Microsoft personnel (including subprocessors) located outside the Geo may remotely operate data processing systems in the Geo but will not access Customer Data without your authorization.

Note: Remote operation from outside Australia is published. Abuse-monitoring human review for Models sold by Azure uses authorized Microsoft employees; for EEA deployments those reviewers are in the EEA, but an Australia-only reviewer commitment is not stated on the pages opened. No Australia-only support option is published.

Standard and Regional Provisioned types: Prompts and responses are processed within the customer-specified Azure geography and might be processed between regions within that geography for operational purposes.

Note: Unclear: Microsoft says Standard deployments process within the 'customer-specified Azure geography' but no Microsoft page states in words that this covers Australia. Standard and Regional Provisioned are ordinary Azure deployment types, not a separate paid residency add-on. Global Standard is usually cheaper but does not keep processing in the selected geography.

Global types: May be processed in any Azure region. Data Zone types: The service processes data only within the Microsoft-specified data zone (US, EU, or Asia Pacific (APAC)).

Note: Choosing Global or APAC Data Zone leaves Australia-only processing. Batch is Global or Data Zone only (no Standard/Regional batch). Developer tier has no residency guarantee. Limited fine-tuning/training exceptions and Custom Topics training can leave the selected Geo. Instant access (preview) is separate from regional deployments.

The vendor does not publish a statement on this.

Note: Microsoft's Azure IRAP page says an assessment "has been completed for the Azure in-scope services" up to PROTECTED, but it does not list the services. It points to the Azure IRAP Assessment Report and the "Microsoft Azure Compliance Offerings" appendix on the Service Trust Portal, which need sign-in and were not read. No Microsoft page opened names Azure OpenAI or Foundry Models on the current IRAP in-scope list. A 2024 Microsoft Australia News Centre post says the 2024 IRAP assessments included Azure OpenAI Service, but that is an announcement about an earlier cycle, not the current in-scope list. Ask Microsoft for the current scope document before relying on this for a PROTECTED workload.