Australia’s science agency has outlined plans to retrench hundreds of researchers, weeks ahead of the publication of a landmark national report into research and development.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Csiro) said “long-term financial sustainability challenges” had necessitated “changes to its research direction”.

“After decades of stretching resources…Csiro has reached a critical inflection point,” the agency announced.

Following a “comprehensive” 18-month review, it has selected “key focus areas” for its research. They include clean energy, critical minerals, climate change, biosecurity, agricultural productivity and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and robotics.

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The agency also plans to harness “disruptive science and engineering” to “unlock the unknown and solve unanswered questions”. Other activities will need to be “deprioritised”, costing the equivalent of 300 to 350 full-time researchers’ jobs.

“These are difficult but necessary changes to safeguard our national science agency,” said chief executive Doug Hilton.

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He declined to outline which areas would be affected, pending consultations this week. “We haven’t had the face-to-face conversations with staff,” Hilton told the ABC.

“Focusing and prioritising makes sense for an organisation that’s publicly funded. Sometimes that’s a matter of whether we think there are…people in universities that can do what we might be doing better.

“We need to focus on the areas and bring in the skills that we need for a modern science agency. If you think back 20, 30, 40 years ago, climate change was much less of an issue. Ten years ago, AI was barely mentioned.”

Hilton conceded that a “profound sustainability challenge” was also driving the changes. “Our appropriation hasn’t kept pace with the cost of doing science – or inflation, even.”

While the Strategic Examination of R&D is due to report by Christmas, insiders are sceptical that it will lead to relief in a sector reeling from multiple funding cuts – most recently, a government clampdown on international education, which bankrolls most university research.

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The Csiro Staff Association said the latest cutbacks would come on top of 818 job losses since mid-2024, making the current Labor administration “worse” than the conservative government of Tony Abbott. “This is a very sad day for publicly funded science in this country,” said association secretary Susan Tonks.

“These are some the worst cuts the Csiro has ever seen, and they’re coming at a time when we should be investing.”

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering lamented the “disheartening” news. “Australia and the world have greatly benefited from the work that Csiro has done for more than a century,” said academy president Katherine Woodthorpe.

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“Every dollar invested in Csiro returns a threefold benefit to the economy over time, if you give it the time to do the work that it needs to do.”

In October a Senate estimates committee heard that per capita investment in Csiro was less than half of its 1980s levels, having fallen 88 per cent as a share of GDP.

Science minister Tim Ayres said nominal funding had not changed over that period, while conceding “the difference between nominal and real contributions”. He said the government’s investment in the agency was “very substantial”.

“I expect the management of the Csiro to…make sure that the organisation is on a sustainable budget footing,” Ayres told the committee. “Csiro is continuing to evolve its approach to make sure its programmes of effort are in line with the national science priorities of the country.”

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com