CSIRO’s Data61 brand is set to be scrapped, with confirmation that the organisation’s data and digital research section will be combined with Manufacturing to create a new Research Unit called Technology.
The move comes as CSIRO Executive has finally revealed – after sustained pressure from the union and following almost two years of speculation and budget pressure – more details on some 120 staff have left Data61 over the same period due to resignations, the non-renewal of fixed term contracts and the loss of ten casual employees.
These shadow cuts were spread across most Data61 worksites across Australia, with New South Wales (Eveleigh and Marsfield), Queensland (Pullenvale and Dutton Park), Victoria (Clayton) and the ACT (Black Mountain) particularly hard hit.
At a recent Town Hall meeting with affected staff, CSIRO Executive confirmed decision to merge Data61 and Manufacturing into a new research unit called Technology; with commencement date for the new entity expected sometime in May.
Early engagement with staff commenced in late November, although the writing appeared on the wall earlier that month when then Data61 Chief John Whittle and former Manufacturing boss Marcus Zipper both simultaneously jumped ship.
According to CSIRO Executive’s proposal “a single unit supports the co-design of portfolio targets and collective focus on areas of priority” and will provide “opportunities for collaboration across the impact pathway, from ideation to translation.”
“Data61 and Manufacturing share similar challenges working across CSIRO and externally, juggling competing priorities of research and support of application across RUs and several sectors.”
“A single unit provides a unified anchor point, to coordinate, prioritise and lead CSIRO’s engagement with external opportunities and government priorities,” the document states.
Meanwhile, CSIRO Executive have finally provided more detail on the 120 Data61 staff that have left the organisation in the past two years, due to resignations and the non-renewal of fixed term contracts; what some insiders have described as shadow cuts.
The saga began in March 2024, when Data61 staff were briefed by research unit leaders that a funding shortfall could result in an operating reduction of up to 20 per cent, translating to significant job losses.
What followed were months of denials from Executives that there were any plans to cut jobs in CSIRO’s data and digital research section. In addition to pressure from the Staff Association, CSIRO faced sustained scrutiny in Senate estimates, particularly from ACT Independent Senator David Pocock.
Last November, hours before another estimates grilling, CSIRO finally admitted that Data61 had shed 120 jobs since July 2024. Until earlier this month, Executive had been reluctant to provide additional detail, including the location of the jobs lost and position titles involved.
However, following Staff Association correspondence invoking consultation rights and accessing the dispute resolution procedures of the CSIRO enterprise agreement, Executive finally came clean and released the Data61 files.
Of the 120 staff lost to the organisation, 59 resigned (25 indefinite, 34 term), 42 completed specified term (not renewed) and 7 retired (6 indefinite, 1 term). Ten casual staff were let go as well.
The location data shows most of the job losses have been shared between New South Wales (Eveleigh 21 and Marsfield 14), Queensland (Pullenvale 28 and Dutton Park 6), Victoria (Clayton 20) and the ACT (Black Mountain 16).
Analysis of the position descriptions of the lost jobs show the most impact on CSIRO Early Research Career (28 roles), followed by Research Scientist (14), Engineer (13), Research Technician (9), Team Leader (7) and Senior Engineer (7).
The merger with Manufacturing spells an end to the Data61 experiment at CSIRO. The story began in May 2014, when the Abbott Coalition Government announced plans to cease funding to National ICT Australia (NICTA) beyond June 2016.
The plan to cease funding to NICTA prompted lengthy takeover talks with CSIRO, following the appointment of then-new Chief Executive Larry Marshall, and a merger proposal between NICTA and CSIRO’s Digital Productivity Flagship was released in April 2015.
In late August 2015, CSIRO and NICTA formally confirmed the merger. The new entity – called Data61 and led by tech entrepreneur Adrian Turner – was merged into a single CSIRO unit over the next twelve months before NICTA’s June 2016 funding deadline.
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InnovationAUS, 30 April 2026
The CSIRO will merge its digital and manufacturing research units after shedding more than 100 of the units’ staff amid immense financial pressures over the last two years.
The amalgamation represents the end of the Data61 as a standalone research group, where hundreds of scientists have developed machine learning, robotics and artificial intelligence at sites around Australia for the last decade.
It also ends the run of National ICT Australia, which has pioneered this work since 2002 as a research centre of excellence and then merged with the CSIRO to form Data61 in 2016.
Data61 had been targeted for savings by the national science agency amid a funding crisis over the last two years that has seen more than 120 of the unit’s workers leave, according to the CSIRO union, including Data61 leader Dr John Whittle last November.
The CSIRO formally consulted staff last month on merging the units and advised them of the decision last week.
It comes after the CSIRO reset its research priorities late last year while managing intense financial pressures.
A CSIRO spokesperson confirmed the merger of Data61 and manufacturing, which will create a new Technology Research Unit.
“The merger of these capabilities will strengthen collaboration, innovation pathways and better coordinate external engagement to deliver greater science impact for the nation,” the spokesperson told InnovationAus.com.
According to the CSIRO Staff Association, Data61 has been “scrapped” after suffering through more than 120 job losses over the last two years amid CSIRO’s search for savings.
What the union calls Data61 “shadow cuts” includes 59 resignations, 42 contract workers not having jobs renewed, seven resignations and 10 casual staff being “let go”.
These losses were shared among Data61 sites in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT, the union said, but have mostly impacted early career researchers.
“Analysis of the position descriptions of the lost jobs show the most impact on CSIRO Early Research Career (28 roles), followed by Research Scientist (14), Engineer (13), Research Technician (9), Team Leader (7) and Senior Engineer (7),” the union said.
The CSIRO spokesperson would not confirm the 120 job loss figure.
A Senate inquiry this week acknowledged structural funding issues at the CSIRO and risks to sovereign capability from its job cuts, but stopped short of recommending any increased funding.