CSIRO to persist with cutting up to 350 jobs despite extra $387.4 million in federal funding – Australia’s national science agency CSIRO will persist with job cuts of up to 350 roles despite an extra $387.4 million in funding announced today by the federal government. The funding is in addition to the $278 million announced last year, and on top of the national science agency’s existing annual funding allocation of almost $1 billion… ABC News, 7 May 2026 (link, text below).
National science agency job cuts to continue despite government funding boost – The federal government has announced a significant funding boost for Australia’s national science agency the CSIRO. But planned job cuts at the national science agency will still go ahead… ABC News, 7 May 2026 (video only, embed below).
Future job cuts possibly avoided with huge budget lifeline thrown to CSIRO – The Albanese government is extending a $387.4 million lifeline to the CSIRO in next week’s federal budget… the funding, to be spent over the next four years, will help pay for much-needed equipment and building upgrades, along with cyber protection and technology support, at the national science agency… Canberra Times, 9 May 2025 (link, text below).
Budget drop: CSIRO gets a last-minute funding boost – Just months after announcing hundreds of research scientist redundancies, Australia’s national science agency CSIRO has been thrown a budget lifeline… InnovationAUS, 9 May 2026 (link, text below).
David Pocock applauds $387m in extra funding for CSIRO after tens of thousands sign petition – The Albanese government will boost funding to CSIRO by $387.4m in a bid to meet the long-term costs of the national science agency. It follows months of advocacy by scientists and staff after hundreds of job cuts and cost-cutting measures… Guardian Australia, 9 May 2026 (link, text below).
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ABC News, 7 May 2026
Australia’s national science agency CSIRO will persist with job cuts of up to 350 roles despite an extra $387.4 million in funding announced today by the federal government.
The funding is in addition to the $278 million announced last year, and on top of the national science agency’s existing annual funding allocation of almost $1 billion.
CSIRO chief executive Doug Hilton said the announcement showed the federal government’s commitment to science.
“It is with a huge amount of gratitude that the CSIRO, or staff at the CSIRO, have received this great vote of confidence from the government in not just CSIRO, but in science and the important role that science will play as our nation tackles some really profound challenges,” Dr Hilton said.
But the CSIRO said the changes to its research portfolio, announced in November and including an estimated reduction of over 300 full time roles, were already well underway.
The national science agency, which helped invent wi-fi, plastic bank notes, Aerogard and the Hendra virus vaccine, has already seen more than 800 positions slashed in the past two years.
“These are essential strategic research shifts,” the CSIRO said in a statement.
“CSIRO must retain the savings that will come from these changes to support the long-term sustainability of the organisation.”
Dr Hilton said the additional funding highlighted the importance of research, and the confidence the community and the government had in CSIRO’s ability to “deliver science for the nation during a period of global precarity”.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to addressing CSIRO’s sustainability over the long term and are grateful for the government’s significant investment to help us progress towards this goal,” he said.
In announcing the funding, Federal Minister for Science Tim Ayres said the government was confident it would put the CSIRO in a position to strengthen its work for the modern age.
“This is a government that is focused on science. We don’t just talk about it. We are delivering here in a way that sets up the national science agency with confidence for the future,” Mr Ayres said.
“We’re backing Australian science because Australian science is crucial for our health, for our welfare, for our future prosperity, and for our resilience.”
He said investment in the agency, including additional $38 million a year towards upgrading the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, was an investment in the nation’s health.
“We know … that it is more than a remote possibility that there’ll be future pandemics,” Mr Ayres said.
“Making sure that we are ahead of the game, protecting Australians and Australia from future pandemics — but also all of the dealing with pandemics and biological hazards for agriculture and for Australia’s animals and plants as well — is absolutely important for our future.
“This is … a very substantial contribution right through the forwards to make sure that the CSIRO has certainty about its sustainment, and indeed some additional capital support here to make sure that centres like the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness have certainty about the capital injection that they need to keep that facility fit for purpose.”
Funding ‘cold comfort’ amid job losses: Union
The CSIRO Staff Association, a part of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), said 1,150 jobs have been cut in the last two years.
Of those cuts, 850 were in February of 2024, with a further 350 announced late last year.
CPSU national president Beth Vincent-Pietsch said the union believed the additional funding had been needed for a long time.
“It’s very welcome news, however it’s going to be cold comfort for the 1,150 workers who’ve had their jobs slashed in recent times,” Ms Vincent-Pietsch said.
“Cuts to CSIRO funding have been an issue that CPSU has been raising for many years, and we know that the small boosts that the government has given along the way haven’t been enough to stem the loss of jobs.”
She said after last funding injection of $233 million the agency advised it would not save a single job at CSIRO.
“Now that we’ve seen $387 million coming through it’s got to mean that there are no more job cuts to the CSIRO,” Ms Vincent-Pietsch said.
“It’s deeply impacting their capacity to be the world-renowned research facility that it is.”
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Canberra Times, 9 May 2025
The Albanese government is extending a $387.4 million lifeline to the CSIRO in next week’s federal budget.
The Canberra Times understands the funding, to be spent over the next four years, will help pay for much-needed equipment and building upgrades, along with cyber protection and technology support, at the national science agency.
Finance and Public Service Minister and ACT Labor senator Katy Gallagher said the CSIRO “does work that matters to Australians every day, from supporting our industries to helping keep our communities safe.”
“This investment gives CSIRO the stability it needs to keep delivering that work, and to plan for the future with confidence,” Senator Gallagher said.
Science Minister Tim Ayres said publicly funded science was “absolutely critical to the national interest and to solving some of Australia’s biggest challenges.”
“I am incredibly focused on backing CSIRO to strengthen the role it plays in making life better for all Australians,” Senator Ayres said.
The new funding is on top of $233 million allocated to the CSIRO in the December mid-year economic update and $45 million in last year’s federal budget.
The government will say the investment will ensure the CSIRO can meet the longer-term costs of operating critical science and research infrastructure and maintain greater workforce stability to deliver the groundbreaking research and technological breakthroughs Australian industries rely on.
It is not expected to halt the redundancies currently under way at the agency, which is slashing 350 roles on top of 800 already culled as part of a shift in research priorities and influenced by financial pressures.
But the government hopes that by addressing significant and unavoidable costs facing the CSIRO, the measure will help avoid the need for future rounds of cuts.
Multiple redundancy rounds and the agency’s plan to scale back research in areas like environment, health and food have affected morale at the CSIRO’s Black Mountain laboratories in Canberra.
The budget will also include an extra $38 million, ongoing from 2030-31, for the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, which safeguards Australia’s agricultural industries against biosecurity threats.
This includes supporting stage 2 of the Geelong facility’s modernisation and refurbishment.
Senator Ayres said the government was providing “immediate and ongoing funding to ensure [CSIRO] continue to conduct groundbreaking science and research in the national interest.”
The final report of a parliamentary inquiry into the agency’s resourcing said the government must “acknowledge that investment in CSIRO is an investment in Australia’s future prosperity, not simply a cost to the budget.”
The Community and Public Sector Union, which the CSIRO Staff Association is affiliated with, had asked for $491 million over three years, the amount it said was needed to prevent future job losses and maintain the agency’s funding in real terms, while ACT independent senator David Pocock had called for a permanent increase to its budget allocation.
The emphasis on ensuring the CSIRO can make sure its facilities, research priorities and technologies meet the nation’s future needs follows the agency’s pivot towards a focus on artificial intelligence, critical minerals, climate adaptation and other areas.
While the minister has emphasised that the agency’s decisions were being made at arm’s length from the government, CSIRO chief executive Doug Hilton made clear that financial pressures were a factor.
The agency’s Commonwealth funding through its annual budget appropriation of about $1 billion has been falling in real terms as the cost of doing science has been increasing.
Senator Ayres last year issued a rare statement of expectations to the CSIRO, asking it to shift its priorities to focus on Australia’s net-zero transformation and tech economy.
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InnovationAUS, 9 May 2026
Just months after announcing hundreds of research scientist redundancies, Australia’s national science agency CSIRO has been thrown a budget lifeline.
In November the agency said it would shed up to 350 research positions in the lead up to Christmas, sharpening its research structures as the organisation headed towards a funding cliff.
But on Saturday Industry minister Tim Ayres said the federal Budget due to be delivered on Tuesday would contain an additional $387.4 million over the four years of the forward estimates.
Senator Ayres also said the Budget would include ongoing funding of an additional $38 million a year from 2030 to 2031 for the Australian Centre for Digital Preparedness in Geelong – in addition to a capital funding announcement that will be contained in the Budget to support upgrades at the facility.
Jim Chalmers fifth federal Budget would also contain details of government’s so-called “Investor Front Door” being shifted from the Treasury and into the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.
Combined with the Major Projects Facilitation Agency, Senator Ayres said the change would put the Investor Front Door at the centre of the Albanese government’s Future Made in Australia plans.
He said putting the Investor Front Door in Industry would bring a sharper focus and the capacity to cut through and deliver major national projects that are in Australia’s interest.
“It will strengthen coordination within my department [and] right across government,” Senator Ayres said. “It will better align the regulatory processes and make sure that we’re able to get these big projects on the front foot.”
Bringing the Investor Front Door into Industry would allow it to connect more directly with federal special investment vehicles like the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation.
CSIRO chief executive Doug Hilton said the additional investment in the agency would help put it on a more sustainable footing, making it a more stable organisation.
“And those two things are important,” Dr Hilton said. “It allows investment into our facilities, our equipment, and our cybersecurity.”
“And it provides confidence to our staff that they have the long-term ability to do the creative science that this country so desperately needs.”
“This funding injection gives us real workforce stability into the future. And we’re confident that we can maintain that workforce stability.
“That doesn’t mean there won’t be some changes because we should always be looking at the skills we need year-on-year to deliver the best possible science for Australia,” Dr Hilton said.
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Guardian Australia, 9 May 2026
The Albanese government will boost funding to CSIRO by $387.4m in a bid to meet the long-term costs of the national science agency.
It follows months of advocacy by scientists and staff after hundreds of job cuts and cost-cutting measures.
The funding, over four years, will support facilities and technology upgrades and research and is on top of the agency’s existing $1b in annual funding.
The announcement is not expected to reverse recent decisions to slash hundreds of jobs but it is hoped it might mean further job cuts are avoided.
CSIRO’s annual funding as a percentage of GDP had been falling, with a parliamentary library analysis commissioned by ACT senator David Pocock finding it was at its lowest since 1978.
Pocock said the additional $387.4m was welcome and “reflects huge and effective advocacy from scientists, staff and the community”.
“Tens of thousands of people signed my petition to save CSIRO, and alongside other senators I pushed for a Senate inquiry into the agency’s resourcing because Australia can’t afford to keep hollowing out public science.”
He said after years of declining investment, more funding was still needed. He said investments in research and development were at record lows and further investment could be funded if the government adopted a 25% tax on gas exports.
“I’ll keep pushing the government to back the science and scientists we need to meet the huge challenges ahead,” he said.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said the money would give the agency “stability” to deliver the science and research “that matters to Australians every day”.
The government said the investment aimed to ensure CSIRO could meet its longer-term costs of “operating critical science and research infrastructure, and at the same time, maintain greater workforce stability”.
“Publicly funded science is absolutely critical to the national interest and to solving some of Australia’s biggest challenges,” said the science minister, Tim Ayres.
“I am incredibly focused on backing CSIRO to strengthen the role it plays in making life better for all Australians.”
The government also announced a further $38m in annual funding for the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness from 2030-31.