IRAS 12272-6240 is a complex star-forming region with a compact massive dense clump (DC) and several associated masers, located at a well-determined distance of d=9.3kpc from the Sun. For this study, we obtained sub-arcsec broad- and narrow-band near-infrared (near-IR) imaging and low-resolution spectroscopy with the Baade/Magellan telescope and its camera PANIC. Mosaics of size 2x2arcmin^2^ in the JHKs bands and with narrow-band filters centred in the 2.12um H_2_ and 2.17um Br{gamma} lines were analysed in combination with Hi-GAL/Herschel and archive IRAC/Spitzer and WISE observations. We found that the compact DC houses two Class I young stellar objects (YSOs) that probably form a 21000-au-wide binary system. Its combined 1-1200um spectral energy distribution is consistent with an O9V central star with a 10^-2^M_{sun}_ disc and a 1.3x10^4^M_{sun}_ dust envelope. Its total luminosity is 8.5x10^4^L_{sun}_. A series of shocked H_2_ emission knots are found in its close vicinity, confirming the presence of outflows. IRAS 12272-6240 is at the centre of an embedded cluster with a mean age of 1Myr and 2.6pc in size that contains more than 150 stars. At its nucleus, we found a more compact and considerably younger subcluster containing the YSOs. We also identified and classified the O-type central stars of two dusty radio/IR HII regions flanking the protostars. Our results confirm that these elements form a single giant young complex where massive star formation processes started some 1Myr ago and are still active.