Ray Hall has a lot to be proud of as he heads into a retirement of camping, fishing and not losing sleep worrying about work.

He has sold his thriving environmental consultancy EcOz after 20 years at the helm.

Since taking over the Darwin-based business in 2006, the staff has grown from four to 40 – now the largest team of environmental professionals in the Territory.

Ray says that growth has come from a long-term investment in people, building the technical depth and business capacity needed to take on larger, more complex projects across a broad range of industries.

Today, EcOz supports clients across mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, agriculture, aquaculture, land development and construction, providing local expertise in environmental approvals, ecology, water and soils, monitoring, compliance and rehabilitation.

Ray says EcOz’s strength lies in combining technical expertise with practical experience, a strong safety record and long-standing stakeholder relationships — allowing it to compete with larger interstate and national firms while retaining the local insight clients value.

He says the Northern Territory’s stronger focus on local procurement has also helped build capability within the Territory.

“When I started here, we rarely got government work because government relied on big interstate companies,” Ray says. “That was understandable in some ways because those companies had the expertise. But it meant the skills weren’t being built up in the Territory.

“That has changed. Territory governments now use more local contractors, which has helped build local capacity. We know what it takes to deliver work safely and practically in remote and challenging environments.”

Project managers once considered environmental studies a “grudge spend”, but Ray says that attitude has changed as proponents recognise the need not only to meet modern legal requirements, but also to maintain a social licence to operate.

EcOz’s experience includes involvement with major Territory projects, such as SunCable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink, Core Lithium’s Finniss mines and Jemena’s Northern Gas Pipeline, as well as long-term Territory business operations, including Darwin Port, GEMCO and INPEX.

The company has also worked successfully with Territory construction companies, including Sitzler over many years, especially on Defence projects.

“Whether we’re supporting a new project or a long-term Territory operation, our role is to help clients understand their environmental responsibilities and manage them practically,” Ray says.

That mix of capability, practical experience and commitment to the Territory has made EcOz a trusted partner for clients working across northern Australia.

The new owners of EcOz, who took over at the end of September, have retained the highly skilled local team and committed to continuing the business in the same innovative, Territory-focused way it has operated for the past two decades. TQ

EcOz services include:

Environmental constraints and due diligence – early insights and expert strategy to guide better project decisions.

Environmental approvals – supporting clients to navigate NT and Commonwealth approvals processes.

Ecology, water and soils – surveys and monitoring programs grounded in local knowledge and science.

Contaminated land and waste – clear advice to manage environmental liabilities.

Environmental monitoring and reporting – risk reduction through monitoring, auditing and compliance support.

Project and environmental management – multidisciplinary coordination from concept to completion.

CONTACT

EcOz Environmental Consultants
GPO Box 381
Email: ecoz@ecoz.com.au
Level 1, 70 Cavenagh Street, Darwin, NT 0801
08 8981 1100