Salesforce.com in particular has been lobbying state and federal government officials for the use of public Cloud solutions such as its own CRM offering, based on an argument that storing data in jurisdictions will not contravene domestic laws.

While government bodies officially remain uncertain about the idea of storing any data in off-shore centres, understands that some Federal Government agencies have begun exploring the possibility using public Cloud providers for less sensitive materials.

Mills said he wasn't adverse to the idea, but a current internal trial of Cloud providers and continuing negotiations with the likes of Salesforce.com will form the basis of a re-evaluation of the government's risk guidance frameworks for agency's dissemination of information security.

"State jurisdictions are so broad that the risk factors for the organisation are quite different," he said. "You can't impose a single solution for everyone. You have to provide the tools and let them work out the needs for their business.

"You certainly wouldn't be using public Cloud CRM for highly sensitive personal information."