Overview
- An 18-month portfolio review will refocus CSIRO on climate resilience, clean energy and advanced technologies including AI, with other areas to be scaled back.
- Formal consultation is scheduled to begin in January 2026, with CEO Doug Hilton saying conversations with staff will start on Wednesday.
- The staff association estimates the proposed cuts equal about 10% of CSIRO’s scientists, following more than 800 research-support roles lost last year that it says have shrunk the agency by roughly a third overall.
- CSIRO says job losses will span research units nationwide at an organisation that employs more than 5,800 people.
- The staff union condemned the decision as a very sad day for public science, the science minister framed the reprioritisation as necessary, and Guardian Australia reports health and biosecurity, agriculture and food, and environment units are likely to be affected.