Exclusive: Staff association says cuts will be deeper than forecast and will not fall mostly on support workers, contrary to previous management claims

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Job cuts at the CSIRO this financial year will be deeper than previously forecast and will hit scientists and researchers hardest, the organisation’s union will inform staff on Monday.

Analysis by the CSIRO Staff Association has revealed that 878 full-time positions are likely to go by June, in addition to 513 jobs lost the previous financial year.

The figure is higher than previous estimates that about 770 jobs would be lost as a result of an internal restructure, efficiency dividend and federal funding cut amounting to $115m.

The science agency will have lost more than 20% of its positions over two years.

Management has previously said the cuts would be deepest among support staff. “Most impact will be felt in the support areas of the organisation,” a management spokesman told Fairfax Media in March.

But the secretary of the CSIRO Staff Association, Sam Popovski, said the new figures confirmed the cuts would be felt across the organisation.

“No area of research has been saved, and that’s been very revealing to us. These are very, very significant cuts and just go to prove that these cuts aren’t about achieving efficiency but are essentially about cutting research,” he said.

Scientists, engineers, lab technicians, field workers and support staff will comprise about 57% of the jobs lost.

The agency’s land and water division, which aims to deliver solutions to problems such as water availability, biodiversity, land management and climate-change adaptation, will lose 34 scientists and engineers, and 34 lab researchers.

Another 31 scientists and engineers and 35 lab researchers will go from the mineral resources and energy division, which has responsibility for developing technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in energy and transport.

Proportionally the axe will fall hardest on research and general managers and communications, IT and education staff.

Popovski said the fact the cuts were deeper than previously revealed suggested there had been a deterioration in the agency’s bottom line, most likely because “investment from industry is also suffering compared to last year”.

“To us that indicates that as the government cuts funding to CSIRO it has at the same time damaged the confidence of industry to invest in research,” he said.

He warned that dwindling private sector funding could lead to a “downward spiral” in the organisation’s fortunes that would lead to more job losses.

The forecasts are based on redundancy advice provided to the union by CSIRO management.

Most of the jobs will be lost from sites in Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT, where most staff are based. But the impact will be felt disproportionately in Tasmania, Western Australia and South Queensland, where 271 jobs will go.



Guardian Australia reported last week that morale at the national laboratory had fallen dramatically, with one in three staff “seriously considering” leaving their jobs in the wake of the cuts.

Ten jobs will be lost in the agency’s astronomy and space science division, which has previously warned that the radio telescopes at Parkes and Narrabri will shut within two years without “substantial long-term investment”.

Hundreds of scientists took part in unprecedented protests against the budget cuts in June.

CSIRO has been contacted for comment.