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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/18/sad-day-for-publicly-funded-science-up-to-350-more-jobs-to-go-at-the-csiro>
"Australia’s national scientific agency is expected to cut up to 350 more
research roles from next year as it looks for savings and new sources of
funding to plug budgetary shortfalls.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) held a
town hall on Tuesday afternoon, when the agency’s leaders outlined the troubled
times ahead.
A further 300 to 350 roles are expected to be cut, in addition to job losses
earlier this year and in 2024, with the CSIRO adding it would be looking for
between $80m and $135m each year to renovate its ageing property portfolio.
About 80% of the CSIRO’s 800 buildings are closely approaching the end of their
life cycles.
In a statement, the CSIRO’s chief executive, Doug Hilton, said the changes
would set up the organisation “for the decades ahead with a sharpened research
focus that capitalises on our unique strengths, allows us to concentrate on the
profound challenges we face as a nation and deliver solutions at scale”.
Hilton told staff that the agency would prioritise some research areas – while
deprioritising others – in line with an updated statement of expectations from
the federal science minister, Tim Ayres.
Guardian Australia understands the
research areas affected by the latest round of job losses would include the
health and biosecurity, agriculture and food and environment research units.
The CSIRO staff association secretary, Susan Tonks, said it was “a very sad day
for publicly funded science in this country”, and that the cuts made under the
Albanese government were worse than those under the Coalition government of
Tony Abbott.
“They are now responsible for cuts to public science that exceed the Abbott
government – cuts current Labor MPs rightly slammed at the time,” Tonks said.
“These are some of the worst cuts the CSIRO has ever seen, and they’re coming
at a time when we should be investing in and building up public science.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
