Australia has one of the most variable climates in the world. This extreme climate variability has led to a well developed science of climate risk management in agriculture and natural resource management. However, this kind of science and the institutions and policies that support it are at risk of being stranded by the uncertainty surrounding climate change. CSIRO's Climate Adaptation Flagship is rethinking the way science is framed to support policy and action throughout Australian society to adapt to climate change. This means adopting an adaptive and learning approach to science that continuously asks how we can transform our science to better integrate it into the decision and policy making that lead to adaptation. Part of the answer lies in interdisciplinary and problem oriented research into vulnerability and adaptive capacity, embedded in society via participatory and adaptive approaches to science-policy engagement.