Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) addressing policy

Purpose

This Queensland Government Enterprise Architecture (QGEA) policy states the Queensland Governments direction with respect to the use of Government owned public version 4 IP address ranges. Public addresses are addresses that are able to be accessed via the internet. Version 4 is the current address format, and the address space is predicted to be exhausted in approximately three to four years based on current usage patterns.

Policy statement

The Queensland Government Customer and Digital Group will centrally govern IPv4 IP address ranges according to an approved governance framework.

Policy benefits

This policy will help to ensure that, as IPv4 addresses become scarce, the Queensland Government has continued access to sufficient publicly accessible IPv4 addresses for future service provisioning requirements. The policy will also ensure more efficient accessibility to government electronic services by simplifying network services between agencies.

The implementation of the policy will also provide a clearer view of the current state of Queensland Government IP addressing requirements. These requirements will form the basis of a future IP version 6 policy for the Queensland Government.

Applicability

This policy applies to all Queensland Government departments (as defined by the Public Sector Act 2022). Accountable officers (not already in scope of the Public Sector Act 2022) and statutory bodies under the Financial and Performance Management Standard 2019 must have regard to this policy in the context of internal controls, financial information management systems and risk management. Please see the Applicability of the QGEA for further information.

This policy also applies to any Government-owned corporations or Statutory Authority connected to the whole-of-government network.

Policy requirements

Policy requirement 1 : All agencies must adhere to the Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) interconnection standard

Network connections between Queensland Government bodies and with the whole-of-government network will be in accordance with the Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) interconnection standard.

Issue and review

Issue date: 13 August 2020
Next review date: August 2022

This QGEA policy is published within the QGEA and is administered by the Queensland Government Customer and Digital Group. It was developed by the Queensland Government Customer and Digital Group and approved by the Queensland Government Chief Customer and Digital Officer.

Implementation

This policy comes into effect from the issue date.

Implementation of all requirements should be completed in a timeframe consistent with migration to the whole of government consolidated infrastructure.