The Albanese Government has committed an additional $387.4 million to CSIRO over four years, but the agency has confirmed its restructure – including a reduction of 300 to 350 full-time equivalent roles and closure of its food science division – will proceed regardless.
The funding, announced on 9 May as part of a pre-budget update, is on top of CSIRO’s existing annual appropriation of approximately $1 billion and the $278 million the agency received from government through 2025. The investment is directed at infrastructure sustainability, research – equipment, cyber protection and workforce stability.
But CSIRO said the additional funding did not alter its restructure timeline. The changes to its research portfolio announced in November 2025, including the agency’s strategic decision to exit work on food ingredients and food processing – will proceed as planned.
CSIRO CEO Dr Doug Hilton said the organisation must retain the savings generated by those cuts to support its long-term financial sustainability.
“This budget outcome highlights the importance of research and the confidence the community and government have in CSIRO’s ability to deliver science for the nation during a period of global precarity,” Hilton said.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to addressing CSIRO’s sustainability over the long term and are grateful for the government’s significant investment to help us progress towards this goal.”
For food manufacturers that have relied on CSIRO’s research infrastructure and industry partnerships, the funding announcement offers little practical relief.
The restructure that narrowed CSIRO’s food science capability is proceeding on its original schedule, and no alternative institutional provider of comparable scale has been announced.
Cuts unchanged despite uplift
The pattern mirrors what occurred after the $278 million December 2025 mid-year budget update, when Hilton confirmed that additional funding would not stop a single proposed job cut.
The Senate Economics References Committee, in its April 2026 report, found job losses at CSIRO were attributable to the decisions of the Albanese government and warned that Australia’s sovereign research capability was at risk without urgent action.
Independent senator, David Pocock, recommended an immediate appropriation uplift of $252.3 million in the 2026-27 budget, with ongoing annual indexation. The $387.4 million commitment falls short of that call on an annualised basis and does not appear to include the indexation mechanism Pocock sought.
For the food and beverage manufacturing sector, the key implication remains unchanged: CSIRO’s exit from food ingredients and food processing research, and the restructure of its Sustainability and Food program into a narrower AgriFood Systems program, are proceeding.
The Food Innovation Centre pilot plant network – which has provided food manufacturers with access to processing and testing infrastructure across Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney – faces an uncertain future as the Werribee site remains flagged for a future viability review.
ACDP secured for biosecurity work
The announcement does include meaningful new investment for the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong. The government will fund Stage 2 of the facility’s modernisation and refurbishment and has committed ongoing funding of $38 million per year from 2030-31 to continue biosecurity operations.
The ACDP plays a direct role in protecting Australia’s agricultural industries against exotic animal and plant diseases.
Minister for Industry and Innovation, Tim Ayres, framed the broader package as essential to CSIRO’s research mission.
“Publicly funded science is absolutely critical to the national interest and to solving some of Australia’s biggest challenges,” Ayres said.
Public service minister, Katy Gallagher, added that the investment gave CSIRO, “the stability it needs to keep delivering that work, and to plan for the future with confidence”.
