4
BAMOS May 2026
President’ s report
Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick
Hello AMOS community,
I hope these last months have treated you well. As many of you will be aware, CSIRO is facing a round of significant funding cuts that pose a serious threat to Australia ' s world-class climate modelling capability. At the time of writing, the specifics of the cuts are not formally announced; however, core capabilities in developing Australia’ s very own climate model, ACCESS, are under serious threat.
These are not abstract budget line items— they represent the potential loss of skilled researchers, long-running datasets, and institutional experience that has taken decades to build. I want to assure you that AMOS has been actively engaged in advocating against these cuts, and we want to be clear about where we stand: the dismantling of climate modelling capacity at CSIRO would be a profound step backwards for Australian science, and for our ability as a nation to understand, prepare for, and respond to a changing climate. We will continue to make that case loudly and clearly to the government.
A special thanks to Marty Singh and Andrew King, who gave evidence on behalf of AMOS during the Senate Inquiry into Funding and Resourcing for the CSIRO in March this year. Alongside other key members of our community, they eloquently highlighted the detrimental impact such cuts would have on Australia’ s long-term climate research, adaptation and resilience. The findings of the enquiry are published here, and although the final recommendations don’ t explicitly mention climate or ACCESS, they urge the government to take the financial stability of CSIRO seriously. To all our colleagues at CSIRO, I speak on behalf of all AMOS members that you have our utmost support during this difficult time.
Alongside the above, AMOS is fully supportive of greater investment in High-Performance Computing and Data( HPCD) resources in Australia. The ranking of our facilities has dropped dramatically in recent years – a combination of aging infrastructure, inflated costs of new hardware and a lack of investment. Fundamental research in climate science, meteorology and oceanography is increasingly computationally intensive, and right now, Australian researchers are being asked to produce world-leading work without world-leading tools. This is a competitive disadvantage we cannot afford, particularly when combined with the CSIRO cuts.
In coordination with other players in this space, AMOS is engaging with relevant stakeholders to make the case that sustained, strategic investment in HPCD infrastructure is not a luxury – it is a prerequisite for serious research in our disciplines.
This is not something that will likely be fixed overnight, but something that AMOS will continue to play an active part in for the duration.
In more positive news, April 1st marked 50 years of continuous atmospheric observations at Kennaook / Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station. On behalf of the entire AMOS community, I want to take a moment to acknowledge just how extraordinary that achievement is.
Perched on the rugged northwest tip of Tasmania, Kennaook / Cape Grim has been quietly doing some of the most important scientific work in the world since 1976. Fifty years of clean Southern Ocean air. Fifty years of greenhouse gas measurements that have become a cornerstone of our understanding of climate change. Fifty years of data that researchers in Australia and around the globe rely upon every single day.
The records held at Kennaook / Cape Grim are irreplaceable. They tell the story of our atmosphere with a clarity and continuity that very few monitoring stations anywhere on Earth can match. But behind every dataset is a team of dedicated people, and I want to warmly acknowledge all scientists, technicians, and support staff – past and present – who have made Kennaook / Cape Grim what it is. Your commitment to rigorous, long-term observation is exactly the kind of work that AMOS exists to champion. Here ' s to 50 years of remarkable science and to the next 50.
That’ s all from me on this issue. I hope you enjoy reading this bulletin, and I look forward to bringing you further updates in a few months ' time.