A committee advising the Australian Government on science and logistics in the Antarctic region is set to be cut as part of the Government's budget update on Monday.

The Federal Government is set to announce that 175 agencies will be scrapped in an effort to save $500 million through streamlining agencies and avoiding duplication.

The news has prompted concern from the Antarctic scientific community, which is already reeling from budget cuts to the CSIRO and the Antarctic Division.

Tasmanian Polar Network spokesman John Brennan said while Australia was a leader in Antarctic treaty nations, the sector was struggling to deal with budget cuts.

"We need to maintain that leadership role because we will then become attractive to be a collaborate partner with emerging nations such as China," he said.

"It's really important for Australia to have the science capacity and the logistics capacity to stay at the top of the heap.

"Let's hope it doesn't weaken the strategic advantage that Australia has in the region."

Mr Brennan said Australia's role in Antarctica provides enormous economic benefits, particularly for Tasmania.

"We've got to play to our advantage in Tasmania and the Antarctic Southern Ocean science sector is a huge advantage to Tasmania's emerging economy," he said.