The recent release of the CSIRO inquiry report makes it clear that CSIRO needs more long-term support – not less – in terms of funding and resources.
All participants in this inquiry – from across the research community and spanning the political spectrum – agreed that CSIRO is critical to Australia’s sovereign capability when it comes to science and technology.
The government has a real opportunity in the upcoming federal budget to stand up for CSIRO and take action to protect research jobs and heal the cuts.
There will be plenty of interest in the science funding spend of the Albanese Government in the upcoming federal budget.
While managing the economy – a tricky juggling act featuring rising costs of living, shaky growth forecasts and much-needed structural reform amid a global fuel crisis – will be the main game; Labor has some important decisions to make or direction to set when it comes to research policy.
This includes CSIRO funding. Will the government use the budget to build on December’s extra $233 million MYEFO announcement and provide more appropriation funding to secure the organisation’s future and prevent further job cuts?
That’s a question that remains to be answered. CSIRO Chief Executive Doug Hilton’s comments on future CSIRO funding have been nothing if not candid, admitting that even after banking the MYEFO bailout, the organisation is facing a ten-year, billion-dollar funding shortfall.
Recent comments by Science Minister Tim Ayres have been non-committal. During a recent speech to the National Press Club, Minister Ayres did not rule out extra funding for the agency, but said there were “tough decisions to make” ahead of the May federal budget.
“We will make decisions in future budgets around the CSIRO … We will be here for the CSIRO. We’ll be here for Australian science. We’ll back Australian science capability because it’s in the national interest.”
Fine words. As far as concrete proposals go, CPSU used a pre-budget submission to call for increased, additional CSIRO funding.
The recommendation called on the government to “provide $320.7 million to CSIRO in 2026-27 to ensure funding levels are maintained and guarantee operational and capital appropriation indexation will not fall below CPI.”
Independent ACT Senator David Pocock made a similar request for help as one of his recommendations in the CSIRO inquiry report, asking for the provision of “an immediate uplift of $252.3 million to CSIRO’s appropriation in the 2026-27 Budget, ongoing, together with annual indexation top-ups sufficient to halt and progressively reverse the real-terms decline in CSIRO funding.”
Elsewhere, the government has the report from the Strategic Examination of Research and Development (SERD) review to consider. Science and Technology Australia has described the SERD’s Ambitious Australia Report as “a once-in-a-multigenerational opportunity to address many significant challenges facing (the research sector) and the opportunity to co-design the implementation.”
Peak business and union groups, as well as science and technology industry leaders have all cited the findings of SERD review as key to any long-lasting productivity reform process.
“I am ambitious for reform here, and I want to extend that ambition beyond the research and development system to the whole industry and innovation system that I administer,” Minister Ayres said in response to the SERD findings.
A formal response to the report’s recommendations is still to materialise, but it seems likely that the Albanese Government will consider its position carefully and a substantive response to the review may take some time to emerge.
However, the government has signalled a move toward greater scientific alignment and collaboration with the European Union (EU), at a time when the United States is retreating from global research partnerships in favour of the Trump Administration’s America First doctrine.
The Prime Minster used the recent visit of EU President Ursula von der Leyen, not only to sign up to a long-awaited, bilateral free trade agreement, but to signal Australia’s intention to start formal treaty negotiations for association membership of Horizon Europe.
Horizon Europe runs on a seven-year cycle and is the world’s largest pooled research funding program for international science and innovation collaboration. Framework Programme 9 is the current iteration with a funding pool of $155 billion AUD.
Association status would allow Australian research organisations to apply for Horizon Europe funding on equal terms with science entities from EU member countries. However, Australia would need to pay to play. Recent associate members Japan (2026) and New Zealand (2023) have made significant contributions to access the research funding pool.
However, it’s not all good news for collaboration with European researchers. Australia has indicated that it will not continue working with European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) beyond next year.
Australia entered a ten year strategic partnership with ESO in 2017, which allowed greater access to ESO’s telescopes and the ability to bid for instrument contracts.
The partnership, which cost the government $130 million over the decade, opened the path for full membership in the ESO at its conclusion. But the cost of full membership would likely run to more than $500 million over the next ten years.
A spokesperson for Minister Ayres acknowledged the decision to abandon ESO membership would be “difficult to hear for researchers, scientists and engineers who may be impacted”.
“The Australian government is focused on making sure every dollar of research and development investment delivers maximum possible value for Australians,” the spokesperson said.
“That means prioritising investments that generate new opportunities for the research sector as a whole.”
Somewhat predictably, the spokesperson highlighted treaty negotiations with the EU’s Horizon Europe program a future opportunity.