A parliamentary committee has urged the government to intervene and halt job cuts at the CSIRO until after the federal election.
The Senate inquiry into government budget measures also recommended the CSIRO board undertake a review of its staff reduction process before it goes ahead with any cuts.
The report tabled on Tuesday also recommended an investigation of private emails used by the CSIRO as part of its processes to determine cuts, to see if it has met record-keeping obligations.
The focus on the CSIRO comes after the agency revealed it would reduce its climate change data collection and cut jobs in corresponding areas.
The agency initially said about 350 jobs would go, but that number was revised down to around 275 after it announced a long-term research centre in Hobart.
About 40 of those are climate scientists.
The overall head count is expected to return to current levels within two years.
CSIRO head Larry Marshall admitted during the inquiry he would approach the restructure differently if he had his time again.
In an email to staff in February, Dr Marshall told staff the question of climate change had been proved and it was time to refocus on solutions to global warming.
He later admitted to the committee he wasn't very good at communications, nor at politics.
Among the committee's concerns with the CSIRO restructure process are:
* Lack of consultation with staff and key stakeholders
* Inadequate "deep-dive" process to determine which staff should go
* Insufficient briefing from Science Minister Christopher Pyne's office
* Use of private emails to discuss staff cuts.
The government rejected the committee's report, saying the inquiry had been a "blatantly wasteful" use of Senate resources.
In a dissenting report, coalition senators said the restructure was not completed and discussions were still underway with stakeholders and staff.
"A number of fanciful and alarmist assertions have been put forward during the inquiry which were clearly addressed by CSIRO," the report said.
The senators called for the end of the committee - which was established by the Greens and Labor and does not require a member of government to be involved in deliberations or hearings.
