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About CSIRO

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is Australia's national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world.

Open to the Public

CSIRO has a range of facilities that are opened to the public, with each offering a unique insight into science research activities and history.

National Research Flagships

Large-scale, long-term, multidisciplinary science to address Australia's major national challenges and opportunities.

Divisions

CSIRO expertise is organised into 15 research areas.

National Facilities

CSIRO manages national facilities and collections that are opened to researchers around Australia and overseas.
- The Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL)
- National Collections - The Australian National Insect Collection, The Australian National Fish Collection, The Australian National Herbarium, The Australian National Wildlife Collection
- The Marine National Facility - The Southern Surveyor
- Telescopes - Parkes, Narrabri, Mopra, Tidbinbilla, VLBI, ASKAP
- Pyrotron

CSIRO's core areas of impact

Astronomy & Space

Climate Change

Energy

Environment

Farming & Food

Health & Wellbeing

Information & Communication Technologies

Manufacturing

Materials

Mining & Minerals

Oceans & Coasts

Transport & Infrastructure

Contact Enquiries: Phone - 1300 363 400 | Email - Enquiries@csiro.au | Contact Us

Audio

The Murray River and its catchments are at the heart of a big national research project which will find ways of increasing the benefits from Australia's scarce water resources.

Murray-Darling Basin: The end of the line

Reference: 08/38

The last of 18 specific reports on water availability in every region of the Murray Darling Basin has been completed by the CSIRO’s Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project team. Dr Tom Hatton, Director of the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, says the Murray region report has sobering news for the environment and communities at the end of the system. (6:10)

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The Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields Project tracks the entire river system, from the Darling in Queensland to the mouth of the Murray River, the Coorong region in South Australia.

The 18 regional reports, and the final overview to be delivered to the Government soon, will provide governments with a robust, Basin wide estimate of water availability on an individual catchment and aquifer basis, taking into account climate change and other risks.

In this podcast, Dr Hatton explains that extraction along the system, plus the worst drought ever recorded in the Basin, have played a large part in the sad state of the end of the Murray-Darling.

National Research Flagships

CSIRO initiated the National Research Flagships to provide science-based solutions in response to Australia’s major research challenges and opportunities. The nine Flagships form multidisciplinary teams with industry and the research community to deliver impact and benefits for Australia.