Professor Barry Hart is Director of environmental consulting company – Water Science Pty Ltd, established after he retired from Monash University. He was appointed an Emeritus Professor by Monash University. Previously he was Director of the Water Studies Centre at Monash University and Deputy Director Research of the CRC for Freshwater Ecology.

Prof Hart has just retired (June 2024) as Chair of Alluvium Holdings and Alluvium Consulting, but is continuing as Board member of EcoFuture Consuting, and member of Alluvium Research and Insights Panel. He recently (December 2023) completed 3-years as Chair of the Goyder Instirute for Water Research based in Adelaide,. In May 2018 he completed 9 years as a Board member of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.

He has received several awards, including the Limnology Medal (1982) from the Australian Society for Limnology, the Environmental Chemistry Medal (1996) and Applied Chemistry Medal (1998) from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Centenary Medal for services to water quality management and environmental protection (2003) and was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2012

He is well known for his sustained efforts in developing knowledge-based decision making processes in natural resource management in Australia and south-east Asia (particularly with the Mekong River Commission).

He has established an international reputation in the fields of natural resources decision-making (water quality and catchment management, environmental flows, water policy), ecological risk assessment and environmental chemistry. He has published over 220 refereed papers and 13 books, and is on the editorial board of 3 international journals. His most recent books are: Hart, B.T. & Doolan, J. (eds). (2017). Decision Making in Water Resources Policy and Management: The Australian Experience, Elsevier, Oxford, UK and Hart, B.T., Bond, N.R., Byron, N., Pollino, C.A. and Stewardson, M.J. (eds.) (2021). The Murray-Darling Basin, Australia: Its Future Management, Elsevier, Oxford, UK.

He has chaired or been a member of many scientific inquiries, reviews or advisory committees (see below)[1]. He has also been active in a number of independent expert reviews, the most recent being Mid-Term Evaluation of the Murray-Darling Water and Environment Research Program (WERP, 2023), Review of the Victorian Waterway Management Strategy (2021), Evaluation of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office Long Term Intervention Monitoring (LTIM) program (2020). Others are listed below.[2]He is currently a member of the Independent Advisory Group associated with the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH) Flow-MER2.0 environmental water monitoring program.

July 2025

[1]    These include:Chair Scientific Advisory Panel for the Goulburn to Murray Trade Review; Chair Deputy Chair, Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing of Onshore Unconventional Reservoirs in the Northern Territory, which reported to the NT Government in March 2018; Chair of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Scientific Advisory Panel, Chair Fitzroy Partnership Scientific Advisory Panel, Chair DEPI Science Advisory Committee for the Victorian Waterways Management Strategy; Chair Melbourne Water’s Waterways Advisory Committee, Chair DEPI Environmental Flows Technical Audit Panel; Chair Gippsland Lakes and Catchment Task Force; Chair Greening Australia (Victoria); Chair Great Barrier Reef Water Quality Partnership Science Advisory Panel; Chair EPA Victoria’s Science Futures Panel; Chair Yarra Coordinating Committee; Chair Alligator Rivers Region Technical Committee; and Chair Gippsland Integrated Natural Resources Forum. He was also a member of the the Independent Technical Panel for the Stockman Mine in Victoria, the External Stakeholder Advisory Panel (ESAP) for the Hidden Valley gold mine in PNG, the Victorian Environment Assessment Council (VEAC), the Scientific Reference Committee for the Victorian Government’s Land & Biodiversity White Paper, the Expert Advisory Taskforce for the Victorian White Paper (Securing Our Water Future Together), the Victorian Environment Protection Authority Board (EPA), and the Victorian Catchment Management Council (VCMC). 

[2]    Review of the Victorian long-term water resources assessment (2019); the mid-term review of the Commonwealth’s LTIM program (2018 with Dr Rhonda Butcher); review of the surface water management and monitoring associated with the Ranger Uranium Mine, NT Australia; review the science at the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research in Victoria; review of the current and future management of water assets in the Geographe Catchment, WA, for the Minister for Water (2014); review of the Victorian Environmental Flows Monitoring and Assessment Program (VEFMAP) (2014); and review of the CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Flagship (2013).