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As Australia’s national science agency, we are committed to developing and supporting a diverse workforce in its broadest sense.

We know diverse teams are more effective and deliver more innovative outcomes.

Group photo of four women and two men wearing lab coats in a lab, smiling directly at the camera

We are committed to fostering a fair, equitable and inclusive workplace with the aim that each and every one of us has a full sense of belonging. This involves actively engaging in intersectional approaches and providing holistic support to address prioritised needs identified from across the organisation.

We understand that taking an intersectional approach and embracing the diverse perspectives and experiences of our people helps make us more innovative and creative. It benefits our problem solving and decision making, and our adaptability and resilience to change.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and diversity, equity and inclusion are embedded in our corporate plan, values, diversity, inclusion and belonging strategy and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are Australia’s first scientists and we know that to create a better future for Australia, we need Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across every aspect of our organisation.

Meeting room with Indigenous graduates listening to a speaker. Person in foreground wears a CSIRO tshirt that says 'Australia's first scientists'.

We are committed to a whole of organisation approach to deliver our vision of a science landscape in respectful partnership with Indigenous Australia delivering innovative, sustainable, holistic solutions to meet our greatest national challenges.

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy and Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) uses a strength-based approach and models a self-determining framework which enables us to lead our nation’s science through an Indigenous knowledges and science lens. We aim to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment representation to 5% across our workforce and throughout the scientific, research, technical, fieldwork and support services fields.

However, we recognise that our commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment needs to go beyond numbers. It involves nurturing lasting connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities at every level of our organisation and within our workforce.

To support this work, we offer a range of talent pipeline and employment programs from high school engagement through to leadership and beyond.  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff have access to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff network which meets once a month, flexible working arrangements to support continual Community and Country connections and obligations, personal leave entitlements that recognise traditional kinship relationships and NAIDOC and ceremonial leave so that staff can thrive in the workplace while balancing their community, personal and work lives.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represent 2.5% of our workforce as of June 2024.

For more information visit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander careers at CSIRO and Indigenous science at CSIRO.

Gender equity

We have a broad view of gender equity, inclusive of diverse genders and identities.

CSIRO’s gender equity action plan aims to guide the development and operationalisation of specific initiatives aimed at promoting gender equity and inclusivity at CSIRO, fostering a culture of respect and equal opportunity for all individuals.

We are also addressing gender equity through our work with Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE), the Champions of Change Coalition (CCC), the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and the Australian Academy of Science’s Women in STEM decadal plan.

Disability

We recognise that our people bring an array of lived experiences, including people with disability and those caring for someone with a disability.

CSIRO's Disability Inclusion and Access Action Plan was created by CSIRO’s disability working group in consultation with our staff. It aims to support greater representation of people with disability and those who care for someone with disability by building community and champion networks, and resources and facilities that foster accessible, flexible, welcoming and inclusive work environments. 

CSIRO’s Shine@CSIRO network supports staff with a disability and staff with a family member or colleague with a disability. Our neurodivergent employee network promotes acceptance, pride and is designed to connect, support and advocate for neurodivergent staff and affiliates across CSIRO.

LGBTQIA+ inclusion

Our Pride@CSIRO is a network that drives the advancement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) visibility and inclusion with the aim to make CSIRO a better inclusive workplace.

Pride@CSIRO advocates for LGBTQIA+ employees by raising awareness, supporting peers and challenging discrimination to transform CSIRO’s workplace, allowing everyone to bring their whole self to work. Pride@CSIRO has been instrumental in embedding LGBTQIA+ inclusion throughout CSIRO and representing the experiences of our LGBTQIA+ people.

Your video or audio is here! ID: {83995398-9229-4A65-BF4D-30A65E65A89A}

The Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) is a national benchmark that measures employee opinions on workplace LGBTQ inclusiveness. In 2024 CSIRO was awarded AWEI Gold Employer status. This outstanding achievement reflects the significant work of the Pride@CSIRO Network and CSIRO's ongoing commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Badge for Australian LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards 2024, AWEI Gold Employer

CSIRO is also a member of the Pride in Diversity program, a network of organisations leading best practice workplace LGBTQIA+ inclusion practices.

Faith and culture

The research and innovation sector is rich in cross-cultural interaction and exchange. At CSIRO, we have colleagues from various cultures, faiths, languages, and countries of origin. Faith and culture is recognised in our refreshed diversity, inclusion and belonging strategy.

We strive to cultivate a respectful and nurturing environment where the vast collection of values and beliefs we represent as an organisation coexist harmoniously.

As Australia’s national science agency, we are committed to developing and supporting a diverse workforce in its broadest sense.

We know diverse teams are more effective and deliver more innovative outcomes.

Solving Australia's greatest challenges through innovative science and technology takes a diversity of minds and lived experiences.

We are committed to fostering a fair, equitable and inclusive workplace with the aim that each and every one of us has a full sense of belonging. This involves actively engaging in intersectional approaches and providing holistic support to address prioritised needs identified from across the organisation.

We understand that taking an intersectional approach and embracing the diverse perspectives and experiences of our people helps make us more innovative and creative. It benefits our problem solving and decision making, and our adaptability and resilience to change.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and diversity, equity and inclusion are embedded in our corporate plan, values, diversity, inclusion and belonging strategy and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are Australia’s first scientists and we know that to create a better future for Australia, we need Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across every aspect of our organisation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are Australia’s first scientists.

We are committed to a whole of organisation approach to deliver our vision of a science landscape in respectful partnership with Indigenous Australia delivering innovative, sustainable, holistic solutions to meet our greatest national challenges.

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy and Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) uses a strength-based approach and models a self-determining framework which enables us to lead our nation’s science through an Indigenous knowledges and science lens. We aim to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment representation to 5% across our workforce and throughout the scientific, research, technical, fieldwork and support services fields.

However, we recognise that our commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment needs to go beyond numbers. It involves nurturing lasting connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities at every level of our organisation and within our workforce.

To support this work, we offer a range of talent pipeline and employment programs from high school engagement through to leadership and beyond.  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff have access to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff network which meets once a month, flexible working arrangements to support continual Community and Country connections and obligations, personal leave entitlements that recognise traditional kinship relationships and NAIDOC and ceremonial leave so that staff can thrive in the workplace while balancing their community, personal and work lives.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represent 2.5% of our workforce as of June 2024.

For more information visit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander careers at CSIRO and Indigenous science at CSIRO.

Gender equity

We have a broad view of gender equity, inclusive of diverse genders and identities.

CSIRO’s gender equity action plan aims to guide the development and operationalisation of specific initiatives aimed at promoting gender equity and inclusivity at CSIRO, fostering a culture of respect and equal opportunity for all individuals.

We are also addressing gender equity through our work with Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE), the Champions of Change Coalition (CCC), the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and the Australian Academy of Science’s Women in STEM decadal plan.

Disability

We recognise that our people bring an array of lived experiences, including people with disability and those caring for someone with a disability.

CSIRO's Disability Inclusion and Access Action Plan was created by CSIRO’s disability working group in consultation with our staff. It aims to support greater representation of people with disability and those who care for someone with disability by building community and champion networks, and resources and facilities that foster accessible, flexible, welcoming and inclusive work environments. 

CSIRO’s Shine@CSIRO network supports staff with a disability and staff with a family member or colleague with a disability. Our neurodivergent employee network promotes acceptance, pride and is designed to connect, support and advocate for neurodivergent staff and affiliates across CSIRO.

LGBTQIA+ inclusion

Our Pride@CSIRO is a network that drives the advancement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA+) visibility and inclusion with the aim to make CSIRO a better inclusive workplace.

Pride@CSIRO advocates for LGBTQIA+ employees by raising awareness, supporting peers and challenging discrimination to transform CSIRO’s workplace, allowing everyone to bring their whole self to work. Pride@CSIRO has been instrumental in embedding LGBTQIA+ inclusion throughout CSIRO and representing the experiences of our LGBTQIA+ people.

[Music plays and a multicoloured CSIRO logo appears on a pink screen, and text appears: CSIRO, 2023 saw 70 members of the #TeamCSIRO march in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras]

[Image changes to show a split screen showing two different females dancing in the top and bottom left of the screen, and a group posing for a photo with a rainbow flag on the right, and text appears: To begin with, Our homes and offices became dance studios as we came together for weekly routine rehearsal]

[Images flash through of a Visitor’s Pocketbook for the Mardi Gras, a female standing in front of a rainbow flag, a Mercure Hotel sign, A Byron Bay Cookie sign, and a nail polish collection, and text appears: The excitement and nail polish collection increases]

[Images flash through of coloured painted fingernails, a small dog wearing a multicoloured collar, and a split screen showing a painted fingernails on the left and a male and female on the right showing an Uber Pride sign]

[Image changes to show a rear view of a plane touching down on a runway, and an image of the Sydney Opera House appears]

[Image changes to show a group of dancers at the Pride festival, and text appears: We’re here, Let’s Dance]

[Image shows a fast motion video of the dancers moving past the camera]

[Image changes to show a group of participants clapping and cheering, and text appears: Once we’re all in Sydney we were able to practice our routine all together for the first, fabulous time!]

[Image continues to show dancers moving past the camera]

[Image shows the dancers fading into the background and text appearing in the foreground: Let’s get get ready…]

[Image changes to show a split screen showing three of the dancers having makeup and hair dye applied in fast motion]

[Images move through showing different groups of dancers, and then the image changes to show Larry Marshall having eye makeup applied]

[Image changes to show different groups of dancers having makeup applied and posing for the camera]

[Image changes to show a group posing for the camera holding the CSIRO rainbow logo]

[Image changes to show a rear view of participants wearing white t-shirts with the CSIRO rainbow coloured logo emblazoned on the back, and text appears: It’s marching time]

[Image changes to show participants within a heart symbol waving to the camera and cheering]

[Image changes to show participants moving behind a car holding up signs and dancing]

[Image changes to show a rear view of participants wearing the CSIRO rainbow t-shirts and dancing and text appears showing a text message on the screen: How was Mardi Gras xx, It was incredible, Where do I begin]

[Image changes to show a side view of dancers at the Mardi Gras festival, and then the image changes to show a facing view of the participants dancing and cheering]

[Image changes to show a side view of the participants dancing]

In 2023, 70 of our LGBTQIA+ staff and allies proudly marched in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.🏳️‍🌈

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The Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) is a national benchmark that measures employee opinions on workplace LGBTQ inclusiveness. In 2024 CSIRO was awarded AWEI Gold Employer status. This outstanding achievement reflects the significant work of the Pride@CSIRO Network and CSIRO's ongoing commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging.

CSIRO is also a member of the Pride in Diversity program, a network of organisations leading best practice workplace LGBTQIA+ inclusion practices.

Faith and culture

The research and innovation sector is rich in cross-cultural interaction and exchange. At CSIRO, we have colleagues from various cultures, faiths, languages, and countries of origin. Faith and culture is recognised in our refreshed diversity, inclusion and belonging strategy.

We strive to cultivate a respectful and nurturing environment where the vast collection of values and beliefs we represent as an organisation coexist harmoniously.

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