Prime Minster Scott Morrison has announced that a federal election will be held on Saturday 18 May 2019, ending weeks of speculation and marking the start of a 37-day campaign.
The decision to go to the polls follows an early federal budget that included no new measures for CSIRO and little for science in general; despite calls from research community representatives for stronger investment in the sector.
While the major political parties are still to respond to Staff Association correspondence seeking specific policy commitments on a range of issues – including CSIRO funding, job security, scientific integrity and fairer enterprise bargaining – representatives from the Coalition, Labor and the Greens recently met with science leaders in Sydney to outline competing visions for Australian research.
An all staff survey into workforce wellbeing at CSIRO has revealed improved commitment to the organisation’s aims and principles amid concerns that rising rates of stress, anxiety and disrespect continues to pose unacceptable risks.
CSIRO Human Resources (HR) have commenced consultation with all staff on a new Workplace Issues Resolution Procedure which will replace two existing procedures, the Misconduct Procedure and the Grievance Procedure, in effect merging these two procedures into one.