Australia is at risk of weakening its national science capability unless the Australian Government urgently addresses the way it funds the CSIRO, other public research agencies and science in general.
Responding to the inquiry into Funding and resourcing for the CSIRO, the Science & Technology Australia (STA) submission argues that ongoing budget pressures, coupled with funding that fails to keep pace with the real cost of doing research, are forcing damaging cuts across the science system.
"CSIRO is a national asset, but it is doing critical work with less and less. Fundamentally, this means we are not recognising the contribution of science and research to our economy," STA President Jas Chambers said.
"Standard indexation simply does not reflect the real cost of research. When funding fails to keep up with rising costs - in any industry - it has an impact. For science and research, this is resulting in lost expertise, fewer opportunities for young scientists to contribute to our national research missions, and diminished capability that is difficult and expensive to rebuild. This is no different to the real pressure every day households are facing, but on a scale that is much larger and affecting jobs and the future economy."
STA's submission highlights that modest increases to research budgets have not kept pace with inflation, energy costs, specialist equipment, global competition for talent, or the rapidly increasing cost of advanced research infrastructure.
"This is not just a CSIRO problem. It is a whole-of-system issue affecting universities, medical research institutes and publicly funded research agencies right across the country."
CSIRO plays a critical role as a collaboration hub in Australia's research ecosystem, partnering with universities, industry and government, supporting students and early-career researchers, maintaining major national research infrastructure, and translating discoveries into economic and social benefit.
"Every dollar invested in research returns between three and five dollars to the Australian economy. But beyond the economics, research underpins our national security, our productivity, our health system and our ability to respond to challenges like climate change and developing emerging technologies."
While CSIRO must continue to ask itself hard questions to maintain its focus on priorities and impact, Ms Chambers said repeated rounds of job losses and program cuts sent a damaging signal to current and future scientists.
"When students see Australia's premier science agency shedding staff and scaling back capability and the breadth of science curiosity, they quite reasonably ask why they should pursue a career in science. This is while demand for STEM jobs is projected to grow 24% by 2035."
STA is calling on the Government to treat research funding as an investment in Australia's sovereign capability - not a discretionary expense - and to introduce a research-specific indexation rate that reflects the true cost of doing science.
"We need an investor mindset, not a cost-cutting mindset," Ms Chambers said. "Once research capability is lost, it doesn't come back quickly. The impact can last decades, damaging our future prospects."
"If Australia is serious about building future industries, strengthening our economy and remaining globally competitive, then properly funding CSIRO and our broader research system is not optional, it is essential."
