The science industry showed up to support CSIRO in Canberra recently as the Senate Economics Committee held a public hearing as part of an ongoing inquiry into CSIRO resources and funding.
A diverse selection of individuals and groups took part, ranging from scientists appearing in a personal capacity, to industry big-hitters and representatives of the peak bodies for research. CSIRO also gave evidence, and the Staff Association delegation presented the perspective from the workplace.
The committee is now considering the evidence and preparing a report for the Parliament, which is now expected to be complete no later than the 21 April 2026.
The views of CSIRO staff were represented by Staff Association Secretary Susan Tonks, CSIRO Governing Councillor Dr Everard Edwards and workplace delegate Dr Steve Rintoull.
“There’s no denying the desperate circumstances of our appearance here today,” Ms Tonks said.
“Over the past year, CSIRO has lost more than 800 jobs, and now another 350 full-time-equivalent research roles are set to go. The scale of the cuts under the current government are set to surpass those made under the Abbott government.”
“While the government’s emergency MYEFO funding is very welcome, it’s a one-off measure and does not address the CSIRO’s long-term sustainability. Put simply, CSIRO is barely surviving and needs urgent help,” Ms Tonks said.
Dr Edwards drew on his experiences in the Agriculture and Food research unit.
“Currently, CSIRO believes that 70 per cent of research across the research unit is externally funded, and that includes the overheads, which typically are around 115 per cent of direct costs.”
“The impact of this is that we actually no longer have the ability to support new, up-and-coming industries or smaller industries in the way that we did in the past.”
“If we look at something like the wine industry, CSIRO had a key role in supporting its success in the 1980s. But, right now, we can’t really do that,” Dr Edwards said.
Dr Rintoul’s assessment of the funding landscape was plain.
“The funding model for CSIRO is broken. Generations of CSIRO leadership have attempted to cope with reduced appropriation in real terms by seeking external funding.”
“First, the appropriation funding was expected to be leveraged to obtain 30 per cent co-investment. Then it was 50 per cent. More recently, it was at least 70 per cent and preferably full cost recovery. Once all the appropriation is fully leveraged, it’s the end of the road.”
“This brings us to the present, where deep staff cuts have been made or proposed and further cuts seem likely, without a sizeable and immediate increase in funding,” Dr Rintoul said.
The research industry was well represented with testimony from Science and Technology Australia (STA), the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (AATSE), and the Australian Academy of Science (The Academy) to name just a few.
Science and Technology Australia Chief Executive Ryan Winn spoke of the funding pressures across the wider research community.
“CSIRO is the canary in the coal mine. Commonwealth funding for research and development has increased modestly over the past decade, but, in real terms, adjusted for inflation, it has flatlined or declined.”
“Just like households are feeling the pinch of the cost of living increasing faster than incomes, the research system is feeling the pinch of increasing research costs, from consumables to specialist equipment to wages, increasing faster than support from grants and appropriations.”
“The sector is hurting… this is not sustainable. Australia must choose whether we value our research capability enough to fund it properly,” Mr Winn said.
AATSE Deputy Chief Executive Peter Derbyshire crunched the numbers.
“Analysis of data from the Parliamentary Library shows that since the 1978-79 financial year real funding for the CSIRO has fallen by an average of over $3 million a year. That’s over $172 million lost in 2024-25 alone.”
“At the same time, the rest of the research and development sector is also facing declining funding. Research funding as a proportion of GDP now sits at 1.68 per cent. In South Korea it’s 4.9 per cent. The OECD average is 2.7 per cent.”
“That means there is no space in our research and development system to pick up any of this lost capacity. There is no safety net,” Mr Derbyshire said.
It was a theme picked up by outgoing Academy Chief Executive Anna-Maria Arabia.
“What we’re seeing today is the symptoms of a long-term decline in funding. This has been going on for more than ten years. We cannot kick the can down the road any longer.”
“If we do, not only will we continue to fall further behind the rest of the world, but the journey back gets harder and harder. The time to start is now.”
“We need to look at the system comprehensively and to fix it over the next ten years in a non-partisan plan for the future of Australia that’s underpinned by robust science and technology capability… and we absolutely need to start today,” Ms Arabia said.
Other witnesses of note included Boeing, the National Farmer’s Federation, University of Tasmania, Research Australia, Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes, Phenomics Australia, ACCESS-NRI, Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
Chief Executive Doug Hilton headed the CSIRO delegation, flanked by Elanor Huntington, Tom Munyard and Peter Mayfield.
“It’s important to emphasise that the challenges to CSIRO’s financial sustainability have accumulated over generations and have now reached a critical point,” Dr Hilton said.
“They are driven by a range of factors, including the growing costs of maintaining and operating an ageing and sprawling property portfolio -and I’d say also an incredibly complicated property portfolio, and a number of witnesses have talked to the complexity of managing science infrastructure – and also the sharp increases in the costs of doing science.”
“What research we do is shaped by strategic choices to work at scale on critical national problems where we can have a major impact. How much research we do depends on our budget parameters. These are distinct drivers, though they often intersect,” Dr Hilton said.
“While changes to our program of research are necessary, I have to say they are incredibly difficult, particularly for our talented staff and their families. CSIRO is such a connected workplace that a change that impacts one staff member impacts our whole CSIRO family.
“We’re deeply aware of this impact and are committed to meaningful, ongoing consultation with staff as we work through the process. We’ll also continue to collaborate and consult with the research sector, industry and our many partners in government.”
“However, doing nothing is not an option. It would be unacceptable, as today’s stewards, to allow the major financial challenges and pressures that have accumulated for CSIRO over decades to continue or indeed worsen,” Dr Hilton said.
Dr Hilton admitted that funding levels have fallen behind science costs.
“Certainly, the increases in the appropriation have not kept pace with the cost of doing science… we have facilities that are spread across 45 sites. We have 800 buildings, and more than 80 per cent of them are at their technical end of life.
“We have had depreciation funding, which is what we use to renew our buildings through capital investment, that has not been indexed at all since 1999-2000, so it has remained at $80 million for the last 26 years.”
“We will work within whatever budget envelope the Australian community, through their elected representatives, allocate to CSIRO, and we will take seriously our ability to deliver incredible impact for the community through that investment,” Dr Hilton said.