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About Us
The Supervising Scientist Division is part of the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. The Division is headed by the Supervising Scientist, a statutory position established under the Commonwealth Environment Protection (Alligator Rivers Region) Act 1978.
The position of Supervising Scientist for the Alligator Rivers Region was established following the Australian Government's decision to approve uranium mining at Ranger, to meet the need for an independent supervisory body to ensure that the environment of the Alligator Rivers Region is protected from the potential impacts of uranium mining activities. The position of Supervising Scientist is currently held by Mr Alan Hughes.
The key functions of the Supervising Scientist include:
Further information about the Supervising Scientist and the work of the Division is available in:
The Division maintains two facilities: a research/laboratory facility in Darwin where most of the eriss and oss staff are based, and a Field Station at Jabiru, in Kakadu National Park, which supports the Division's environmental monitoring program.
The SSD organisational chart shows the overall structure of the Supervising Scientist Division.
The SSD functions chart shows the functions carried out by the Supervising Scientist Division.
The Supervising Scientist is supported by two branches: the Office of the Supervising Scientist and the Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist.
The Office of the Supervising Scientist (oss) undertakes a range of supervision, audit, policy and business support functions.
The position of Assistant Secretary, oss, is held by Richard McAllister.
The oss undertakes a range of functions including:
More information about the environmental supervision of uranium mining is available through the following link:
More information about Business Support services is available from the Business Manager and through the following link:
The Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist (eriss) undertakes independent scientific research and monitoring into the impact of uranium mining on the environment of the Alligators Rivers Region (which incorporates Kakadu National Park). eriss also conducts research on tropical river systems and the ecology and conservation of tropical wetlands with a focus on the sustainable use of water resources.
The position of Head, eriss is held by Dr David Jones.
eriss comprises five key program areas:
The SSD functions chart shows the functions carried out by the Supervising Scientist Division, including eriss research and monitoring functions.
Further information about environmental research and monitoring of uranium mining is available through the following link:
The Environment Protection (Alligator Rivers Region) Act 1978 provides for eriss to undertake research work for other parties on a commercial basis. Proposals for commercial work are subject to assessment to ensure projects are appropriate and do not pose any potential or actual conflict of interest with eriss’s statutory role.
The Alligator Rivers Region (ARR) is centred about 220 km east of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. Comprising an area of about 28,000 sq km, it includes the catchments of the West, South and East Alligator Rivers, extending east into Arnhem Land and south into the Gimbat and Goodparla pastoral leases. The leases were resumed by the Commonwealth and incorporated into Stage 3 of Kakadu National Park in 1987.
The World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park is located within the ARR. The ARR is internationally recognised for its extensive Ramsar-listed wetlands, more than 40,000 years of continuous human habitation through to present-day Aboriginal traditional society, prolific rock art, outstanding diversity of flora, fauna and landscape, and expansive areas of pristine wilderness.
The ARR is also high in uranium mineralisation. Many small uranium deposits were mined during the 50s and 60s in the South Alligator Valley. Ranger mine is currently the only operational uranium mine in the ARR, Nabarlek mine is under rehabilitation and the Jabiluka Lease is currently under Long Term Care and Maintenance following an agreement between the mining company and traditional owners.