Australia’s National Science Agency Annual Report 2019–20 CSIRO Annual Report 2019–20 Our annual report This annual report provides a summary of our activities and performance for the financial year ended 30 June 2020 against the planned objectives and outcomes in our Corporate Plan and Portfolio Budget Statements. Read the annual report online: csiro.au/annualreport2020. CSIRO We are Australia’s national science agency and innovation catalyst. As one of the largest and most multidisciplinary mission-driven research organisations in the world, we unlock a better future for everyone. Our purpose Solving the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. Our vision We are Australia’s innovation catalyst, collaborating to boost Australia’s innovation performance. Cover: We undertake fundamental research into the behaviour and suppression of bushfires for state land management agencies and rural fire authorities. We’re working on better detection methods, enhanced fire spread simulating models (Spark) and suppression effectiveness models to allow agencies to prioritise efforts to suppress new and running fires according to their potential to cause loss. Read more about our response to the bushfires on pages 18–19 and about Spark on page 40. Image: New post-fire regrowth in the Adelaide Hills, February 2020 and a virtual reality simulation of a bushfire. i CSIRO Head Office Clunies Ross Street, Acton ACT 2601 GPO Box 1700, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia csiro.au | ABN 41 687 119 230 28 August 2020 The Hon Karen Andrews MP Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 We have pleasure in submitting to you, for presentation to Parliament, the 72nd Annual Report of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) for the year ending 30 June 2020. This report has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Science and Industry Research Act 1949, section 46 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014. The report was endorsed at the meeting of the CSIRO Board members on 28 August 2020. Part 6 is a report on the operations of the Science and Industry Endowment Fund (the Fund), which was established under the Science and Industry Endowment Act 1926. It also includes a report by the Auditor-General on the accounts of the Fund. The Corporate Commonwealth Annual Reporting Rule requires CSIRO to report any significant activities and changes that affected the organisation or structure. During the reporting period, we responded to your Statement of Expectations with our Statement of Intent, outlining how CSIRO will meet these expectations as an organisation, we have also been responding to widespread drought, bushfires, hailstorms and the global pandemic COVID-19. We are proud of CSIRO’s achievements this year. Mr David Thodey AO Dr Larry Marshall Chairman of the CSIRO Board Chief Executive of the CSIRO CSIRO Australia’s National Science Agency ii CSIRO Annual Report 2019–20 Contents Part 1 1 Overview 2 Foreword by the Chairman 4 Chief Executive’s report 6 About us 8 Celebrating our people Part 2 13 Our purpose and strategy 14 Our purpose 14 Our vision 15 Our strategy, as captured in our Corporate Plan 18 Preparing Australia for future extreme bushfire events 20 Collaborating through adversity to solve challenges 22 Understanding COVID-19 24 Investing in innovative Australian companies 26 Supporting researchers to shape the future 28 Our investment in emerging areas of science Part 3 33 Annual performance statements 34 Introductory statement 34 Delivering on our purpose 35 Results 36 Objective 1: Conduct and encourage the uptake of world-class scientific research 75 Objective 2: Mobilise and develop the best talent for the benefit of Australia 85 Objective 3: Manage national research infrastructure for the nation 103 Objective 4: Ensure the sustainability of CSIRO Part 4 119 Our organisation 120 Our people 121 Our sites 122 Our organisational structure 124 Management and accountability Part 5 137 Financial statements 138 Independent Auditor’s report 140 Financial statements Part 6 193 Science and Industry Endowment Fund 194 Trustee’s report 200 Independent Auditor’s report for SIEF 202 SIEF financial statements Part 7 213 Appendices and indexes 214 Data templates 221 Acronyms 222 Glossary 223 Index 234 Statement of Expectations index 236 Compliance index: statutory reporting requirements 239 Contact us iii iv CSIRO Annual Report 2019–20 Part 1 | Overview 2 Foreword by the Chairman 4 Chief Executive’s report 6 About us 8 Celebrating our people Part 1 | Overview 1 Foreword by the Chairman It has been challenging on so many fronts this year – bushfires, floods and the pandemic. As we look towards recovery and building resilience, the importance of Australia’s national science agency has never been clearer. CSIRO’s science excellence, broad partnerships, and talented people continue to deliver innovative solutions that protect our quality of life, our economic health, and our environmental sustainability through this difficult time. We continue to invest for our brighter future. I am extremely proud of the contribution CSIRO has We are focusing our science in areas that are aligned made to Australia this year, which has ranged from with government priorities: the digital economy; vaccine development and outbreak management working collaboratively to advance Australian through to bushfire response and economic industry; building small to medium-sized enterprise recovery. CSIRO’s people have risen to these (SME) engagement; encouraging access to national challenges without hesitation, while continuing their research infrastructure; promoting science, important work across the full research portfolio, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) including climate change, agriculture, health and careers and equity; and facilitating the translation of wellbeing, cyber security, and in applying emerging research and commercialisation of outcomes. technologies like artificial intelligence to increase the We are committed to using science to guide our pace and scale of our impact. investments in securing Australia’s future prosperity, On 13 February this year, the Minister issued a new as outlined in our Australian National Outlook 2019. Statement of Expectations for CSIRO, which we This annual report tells many stories about the value responded to with a Statement of Intent reaffirming we have delivered to partners and customers this our commitment to solving the greatest challenges year, particularly as they too adapt to this changing for Australia and providing comment from the Board landscape. What I hope you sense through this on how we will do this. report is the dedication, collaborative spirit and It is a privilege for us all to serve our nation through integrity of our CSIRO colleagues – something outstanding science and research. As the national that we experience every day when we work with science agency, we will continue to deliver on them. I want to thank them for their efforts, which our core mission to deliver science impact for the have gone above and beyond our expectations, to whole nation – working collaboratively across the deliver excellent and impactful science when it is research system and with industry, government, and needed most. universities, both in Australia and globally. 2 CSIRO Annual Report 2019–20 As Australia contemplates a very different outlook after the events of this year, CSIRO has shared plans of a new missions program to bolster Australia’s COVID-19 recovery and build long-term resilience. The program of large-scale, major scientific and collaborative research initiatives will be aimed at solving some of Australia’s greatest challenges, focused on outcomes that lead to positive impact, new jobs and economic growth. These challenges cannot be met by CSIRO alone, so the missions program will bring together government, universities, industry and the community to develop the program. CSIRO is not immune from the economic impact of COVID-19, and the Board is preparing for a revenue shortfall in the next financial year. This annual report demonstrates the strong scientific and financial foundation from which we can explore new opportunities. I am confident that CSIRO will endure for another 100 years as we evolve and adapt to the changing environment. I look forward to CSIRO continuing to shape and guide Australia’s recovery effort as we build a new and bright future for our economy. Mr David Thodey AO Chairman of the CSIRO Board Part 1 | Overview 3 Chief Executive’s report CSIRO was founded 100 years ago on a vision of science redefining our future. This year, your national science agency has lived this purpose like no other year in recent memory – at the forefront responding to a widespread drought, then a devastating bushfire season, followed by a global pandemic. Now we are preparing Australian industry to respond to our first recession in 30 years. We are precisely in the place our founder envisioned us to be – using science and data to light the way through crises and delivering solutions to Australia’s greatest challenges. This annual report captures why there has never As Australia looks for pathways back to been a more important time for a mission-directed prosperity from the impacts of the pandemic, organisation like ours to rise to these challenges our work to strengthen Australia’s innovation and bring science to the fore to guide us to a and commercialisation pipeline will be more better future. While many of this year’s crises were important than ever. Over the last five years, unprecedented, they were not unforeseen. In these CSIRO’s ON Accelerator program has supported pages, you’ll see the results of strategic changes we the creation of more than 60 new companies that have made to CSIRO in recent years to prepare for have attracted more than $75 million in venture events like these, which gave us the capability to hit funding and commercialisation grants.