Science & Technology Australia (STA) has welcomed the release of the Senate inquiry report into funding and resourcing for the CSIRO, warning it highlights urgent, system-wide workforce and capability challenges that must be addressed in the upcoming Federal Budget.
The report highlights the critical role CSIRO plays in building Australia's sovereign capability, ensuring that the nation maintains the independent scientific and technical expertise and critical infrastructure necessary to respond to national challenges and global shocks in an increasingly complex and uncertain world.
The Senate inquiry findings come as new analysis from STA shows Australia faces three major challenges in meeting STEM workforce demand by 2035:
- A shrinking and insecure workforce - one in three STEM professionals are expecting to leave the sector, with funding certainty and sustainability being a key contributor
- Heavy reliance on international workers - 42 per cent of Australia's Bachelor-qualified STEM workforce are born overseas
- Falling STEM participation at school - a 10 per cent decline in the number of Year 12 students studying STEM over the past decade
STA Chief Executive Officer Ryan Winn said the Senate inquiry findings reinforce the urgency of addressing these challenges.
"Australia is facing a convergence of workforce pressures that threaten our future productivity and competitiveness," Mr Winn said.
"We need more STEM professionals, but we're struggling to retain the ones we already have and that's a direct result of decades-long underinvestment."
The Senate report highlights deep concerns about declining real funding, workforce losses and the erosion of sovereign research capability within CSIRO. These are issues STA raised in its submission and opening statement to the inquiry.
"CSIRO sits at the core of Australia's science system, and this report makes clear that sustained and sustainable funding pressures, especially with the increasing real cost of research, are putting both capability and workforce at risk," Mr Winn said.
"You cannot solve long-term national challenges with short-term funding settings."
The findings reflect broader system-wide issues identified in its STEM Workforce Analysis, including workforce insecurity and declining retention across the sector.
"Around one-third of STEM professionals are considering leaving the sector, alongside the next generation having concerns about whether to progress a STEM career" Mr Winn said.
"This at a time when demand for STEM skills is accelerating, should be a clear wake-up call."
The challenges come at a critical moment, following the release of the Ambitious Australia report, which outlined a multi-generational opportunity to strengthen Australia's R&D system and drive economic growth. The Senate inquiry also acknowledged the importance of the Government publicly advising whether it will implement the Ambitious Australia recommendations.
"If we don't rebuild workforce capacity and invest in institutions like CSIRO, we simply won't have the capability to deliver on that ambition," Mr Winn said.
STA is calling on the Government to use the Federal Budget on 12 May to provide sustained, long-term funding for CSIRO, including indexation that reflects the true cost of research and investment in critical infrastructure and workforce capability.
"This is a pivotal moment for Australia's science and innovation system," Mr Winn said.
"Backing CSIRO means backing the workforce, capability and innovation that will drive Australia's future prosperity."
