Australian Antarctic Division funding drop 'unexpected', CPSU tells Senate inquiry

The division's operating budget reduced by $25 million this financial year, a drop which the government said was largely due to funding for Australia's Antarctic icebreaker, RSV Nuyina, ending.

Unsatisfied with this explanation, the Coalition and the Greens in August teamed up to refer the matter to the Senate's environment and communications committee, which held its first public hearing probing management of funding on Wednesday.

Appearing before the committee, Tasmanian regional secretary at the Community and Public Sector Union Zac Batchelor told senators the drop was "unexpected".

"Given the recent, much-needed investments in the AAD, which were welcomed by the CPSU and our members, the current budget shortfall is unexpected," he said.

"It should be noted that all this has occurred against a backdrop of serious cultural issues, of discrimination, bullying and harassment."

Mr Batchelor added that members had reported "serious concerns about a culture of secrecy and a lack of transparency around how money has been allocated in recent years".

"Workers are asking for transparency as to how this budget shortfall occurred so that it is not repeated," he said.

The $25 million drop followed the release of an external review into the division, which uncovered "uncomfortable truths" about bullying and sexual harassment. Of 236 people surveyed to inform the so-called Russell review, 15 per cent said they had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, while 34 per cent reported they had been bullied.

A 2020 internal review into the division also reported widespread sexual harassment and a "blokey culture".

"It's been quite demoralising, particularly over the last four or five years, we've had significant issues with morale," Mr Batchelor said.

He told the committee the union understood several science projects had been scrapped, and more than 40 scientific positions in various states of recruitment put on hold, as a direct result of the funding drop.

"Just before the decision to pull back on these positions there was quite a bit of optimism that people thought finally the foot is going to be taken off the back of their neck and we're finally going to get back to doing some of the work that we've been not able to do for so long," Mr Batchelor said.

Brian Miller, a scientist at the division and a CPSU member, told senators he had been hopeful after signs the culture was changing in the division, making the latest funding drop an "especially bitter pill".

"What's happening here with the budget is beyond the normal variability that happens in the Antarctic," Mr Miller said.

"And because of the hope that we had built up, and because this is a very human decision that is within human control, it's [an] especially bitter pill to swallow."

Mr Miller, told the committee it had been a "dream job" when he started in 2011, but his perception had changed in the last five years.

"Over the last five years I've gotten to the point where I've dreaded coming into the office, I wake up with a knot in my stomach, thinking about having to go into a hostile working environment where there's bullying, where the funding is uncertain," he said.

He noted the appointment of division head Emma Campbell in May, who he said was "trying to turn the ship around"

"I genuinely believe that, and I believe that ... the ship is turning, I feel like things are getting better, slowly."

The committee will hear from senior leadership at the division, including Ms Campbell, on Thursday afternoon.

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