‘Compelling case’ needed to ‘justify more funding’ – Csiro chief

Australia should devote more of its gross domestic product to research, but only after its institutions can show they are extracting maximum value from their existing funding, according to the boss of the national science agency.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Csiro) chief executive Doug Hilton said it was unrealistic for the research sector to “just ask for more and more” from the government. “We have to…present a compelling case that we’re doing everything with the funding we already get to justify further funding,” he told the National Press Club.

“I just don’t think there’s any institution in Australia that can hand on heart say that it is doing [that]. Are we operating today in a manner that justifies greater support tomorrow? The answer, I think, is that we can do better with the resources already entrusted to us.

“We need institutions that are clearer about their strengths and willing to differentiate themselves [and] collaborate to solve the big national challenges,” he said. “In terms of accountability, we must go beyond reporting to government and funding agencies [and] build the trust of the communities we serve.

“Science has become increasingly self-referential and disconnected from parts of society. Treating sections of the community with disdain, because they either don’t understand or are distrustful of science, has predictable consequences.”

Hilton has shouldered harsh criticism since joining Csiro in 2023. Some 1,200 jobs have gone and the number of operating sites has been more than halved to 45. He blamed a “profound” sustainability crisis that had been “building for 50 years”, marked by ageing infrastructure and a budget that had not kept pace with rapidly escalating costs.

“We faced a sobering backlog of essential repairs and maintenance,” he told the Press Club. “More than 80 per cent of our 800 buildings were at their technical end of life. We made the…hard choice to exit some areas of science and narrow our focus in others, rather than tip-pruning and running the risk of doing nothing at scale.”

Hilton said “constructive, frank and fearless advice” from external experts had helped identify where Csiro should focus its efforts, but had not made for “easy” choices. “It’s meant saying no to some great ideas. It’s meant scaling back or stopping work that talented people have devoted their careers to. It’s had a profound impact on staff, their teams, their families and in some cases communities.”

He said the cuts, combined with budget lifelines of A$233 million (£122 million) last November and another A$387 million in May, had “turned a corner” for the agency. Staff could now anticipate “stability” and facilities as modern as those in China, the US and Europe.

He denied that he was “pulling back” on climate science despite cutting over 90 positions from Csiro’s environmental research unit. “More than two-thirds of the research we do as an organisation is directly [related to] climate change,” he said. “We have to get the balance right between climate modelling, climate monitoring, climate resilience and climate adaptation.”

Hilton said that in his 40-year career he had “never once met a scientist who is happy about getting less resources. That’s the challenge of leading an organisation that’s making hard decisions about things that people are passionate about. I think we do have the right balance, but they’re always hard decisions.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com