CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere

The CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere (O&A) Business Unit was formed in 2014 as one of the then 10 "Flagship" operational units of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) as part of a major organisational restructure; from 2015 onwards the term "Flagship" was officially dropped.

This Business Unit was formed essentially as a synthesis of the pre-existing CSIRO Division of Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR), representing the scientific capability, and the previously established Wealth from Oceans (WfO) Flagship, which was the route via which much of the relevant Australian government research funding was directed.

For 2016 it was quoted as operating with an annual budget of $108M Australian Dollars with its research organised into the following programs: Climate Science Centre; Coastal Development and Management; Earth System Assessment; Engineering and Technology; Marine Resources and Industries; and Ocean and Climate Dynamics.

In February 2016 the chief executive of CSIRO, Dr Larry Marshall, announced that research into the fundamentals of climate science was no longer a priority for CSIRO and up to 110 jobs were feared to be cut from the climate research section(s) of the Oceans and Atmosphere Unit.

[8] After overwhelming negative reaction both within Australia and overseas, along with the forced redundancy of prominent climate scientists including the internationally renowned sea level expert Dr John Church, the Australian Government intervened with a directive and promise of new money to support the restoration of 15 jobs and the creation of a new Climate Science Centre to be based in Hobart with a staff of 40, with funding guaranteed for 10 years from 2016, although the expected number of job losses for O&A was still estimated at 75.