Mataranka is located on the Stuart Highway some 104 kilometres south of Katherine.

The Mataranka Fire and Emergency Response Group Headquarters is located at Mataranka Police Station, and the Group is responsible for the Mataranka Police District. The District covers an area of 50,000 square kilometres. This includes the communities of Mataranka, Larrimah, Daly Waters and Jilkminggan. There are 10 major pastoral properties within the district.

The general topography of the district consists of lightly timbered grasslands with pockets of rainforest in the Elsey National Park. The district is drained by the Waterhouse, Roper and Little Roper Rivers and by Elsey Creek.

The Mataranka Fire and Emergency Response Group falls under the control of the NTES Northern Region. Currently the Group has approximately 12 dedicated members trained in a variety of emergency skills.

The Group carries out the full range of normal Emergency Service tasks. In addition it holds equipment for response to fire, road accident rescue and flood incidents.