March 18, 2026
Last Friday, 13th of March, ACCESS-NRI, Australia’s climate simulator Director Professor Andy Hogg, spoke at the Senate Inquiry into Funding and Resourcing for the CSIRO, alongside colleagues several research organisations and national research infrastructures.
During the inquiry, they provided evidence highlighting CSIRO’s critical role as Australia’s national science agency in addressing major national challenges, such as addressing the impacts of climate change in Australia.
In his statement, Professor Hogg emphasised the critical importance of robust collaboration between CSIRO researchers and the ACCESS-NRI in supporting the development and ongoing maintenance of the ACCESS Earth system model, a project CSIRO has been advancing for two decades.
“Developing Earth system models is a fusion of science and software. This is a critical task because it’s the only means we have of quantifying future climate trajectories. Australia will spend trillions on adaptation in the coming decades, and knowing what we need to adapt to is essential to optimising these adaptation measures,” he said.
ACCESS is used by climate scientists across the country to model the impacts of climate change. Globally, ACCESS is used in projects like the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, known as CMIP, so that CSIRO scientists will have impact on upcoming 7th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – which policy makers rely on to make critical decision on climate mitigation.
“CSIRO is the primary Southern Hemisphere agency contributing to CMIP. All others are from the North – they have little interest in the Southern Ocean, Australian land surface or Australian carbon sinks. We can’t afford to lose that,” he remarked.
CSIRO staff were told on Thursday that 102 full-time equivalent positions would be cut from the unit, with a large number to come from climate modelling teams.
“These cuts may indicate that CSIRO will prioritise science that can bring an income to CSIRO through consulting on small-scale adaptation projects over the scientific advances that are needed nationwide. While adaptation and resilience are undeniably important, without investing properly in fundamental science, we will be adapting blindly to changes in our weather and climate that we don’t fully understand and can’t effectively predict,” he said.
“Climate modelling has been hit hard in this round of cuts — I think it’s in danger of becoming subcritical or no longer fit for purpose. There is no other organisation with the mandate or the long-term strategic capability to pick this science up, meaning that Australia may lose the capability to predict future climate at the time when we need it most.”
Read all the submissions including ACCESS-NRI’s here:
Submissions – Parliament of Australia
More information about the CSIRO Senate Inquiry