Government of South Australia

Until 1857, the Province of South Australia was ruled by a Governor responsible to the British Crown. The Government of South Australia was formed in 1857,[1] as prescribed in its Constitution created by the Constitution Act 1856 (an act of parliament of the then United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under Queen Victoria), which created South Australia as a self-governing colony rather than being a province governed from Britain.[2]

Since the federation of Australia in 1901, South Australia has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, which is a constitutional monarchy, and the Constitution of Australia regulates the state of South Australia's relationship with the Commonwealth.[3] Under the Australian Constitution, South Australia ceded legislative and judicial supremacy to the Commonwealth, but retained powers in all matters not in conflict with the Commonwealth.[4][5]

In 1934, the 1856 Act was repealed, along with a few other acts which had amended it, and replaced by the Constitution Act 1934,[6] which is still in force, with amendments.[7]

Legislative power rests with the Parliament of South Australia, which consists of the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council, with general elections held every four years.[8] At these fixed four-yearly elections the whole Assembly is up for re-election, as is half of the Council is; the only exception is after a double dissolution held in accordance with Section 41 of the state Constitution, after which the whole Assembly and Council are up for re-election. Unlike the federal double dissolution procedure, the SA double dissolution procedure can only be used if the same bill, or much the same bill, has been twice rejected by the Council, after being introduced by the Assembly, with the two rejections separated by a general election.[9]

South Australia is governed according to the principles of the Westminster system, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom.[10]

Executive power rests formally with the Executive Council, which consists of the governor and senior ministers. In practice,[10] executive power is exercised by the premier of South Australia and the Cabinet of South Australia, who advise the Governor. The Cabinet comprises 15 ministers, headed by the Premier, who are either members of the House of Assembly or the Legislative Council. Cabinet is responsible for determining policies which are submitted to Parliament.[10]

Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court of South Australia[11] and a system of subordinate courts,[12] but the High Court of Australia and other federal courts have overriding jurisdiction on matters which fall under the ambit of the Australian Constitution.[13]

As of 24 March 2022, the ministry of the South Australian Government comprised the following 14 Labor Party members and 1 Independent member:[14]

Minister		Portfolio	Party affiliation		Shadow Minister		Portfolio	Party affiliation
Peter Malinauskas MP		Premier		Labor	David Speirs MP		Leader of the Opposition Shadow Minister for Environment Shadow Minister for Small and Family Business Shadow Minister for Disability		Liberal
Susan Close MP		Deputy Premier Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Minister for Defence and Space Industries Minister for Climate, Environment and Water		Labor	John Gardner MP		Deputy Leader of the Opposition Shadow Minister for Education, Training and Skills Shadow Minister for the Arts and Festivals		Liberal
Kyam Maher MLC		Attorney-General Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector		Labor	Josh Teague MP		Shadow Attorney-General Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Shadow Minister for Child Protection Shadow Minister for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence		Liberal
Tom Koutsantonis MP		Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister for Energy and Mining		Labor					Liberal
Stephen Mullighan MP		Treasurer		Labor			Shadow Treasurer		Liberal
Zoe Bettison MP		Minister for Tourism Minister for Multicultural Affairs		Labor					Liberal
Chris Picton MP		Minister for Health and Wellbeing		Labor					Liberal
Katrine Hildyard MP		Minister for Child Protection Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing		Labor					Liberal
Nat Cook MP		Minister for Human Services		Labor					Liberal
Clare Scriven MLC		Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister for Forest Industries		Labor					Liberal
Blair Boyer MP		Minister for Education, Training and Skills		Labor					Liberal
Geoff Brock MP		Minister for Local Government Minister for Regional Roads Minister for Veterans Affairs		Independent					Liberal
Andrea Michaels MP		Minister for Small and Family Business Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs Minister for Arts		Labor					Liberal
Joe Szakacs MP		Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services		Labor					Liberal
Nick Champion MP		Minister for Trade and Investment Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Planning		Labor					Liberal

The South Australian Government delivers services, determines policy and regulations, including legal interpretation, by a number of agencies grouped under areas of portfolio responsibility. Each portfolio is led by a government minister who is a member of the Parliament. As of March 2020 there were 28 government departments and agencies listed on sa.gov.au, being:[15]

• Attorney-General's Department (includes Forensic Science SA)[16]
• Auditor-General's Department
• Department for Child Protection (formerly Families SA, Family and Youth Services, Family and Community Services)
• Department for Correctional Services
• Country Fire Service (CFS)
• Courts Administration Authority (CAA)
• Defence SA
• Department for Education
• Electoral Commission of South Australia
• Department for Environment and Water
  • Environment Protection Authority (EPA) - "independent statutory authority within the Environment and Water Portfolio"[17]
• Department for Energy and Mining[18]
• Green Industries SA[17][19]
• Department for Health and Wellbeing
• SA Housing Authority
• Department of Human Services
• Department for Innovation and Skills[20]
• South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS)
• Department for Infrastructure and Transport
• Department of the Premier and Cabinet
• Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA), formerly Department of PIRSA
• Department for Trade and Investment
• Department of Treasury and Finance
• SAFECOM
• South Australia Police
• State Emergency Service
• TAFE SA
• South Australian Tourism Commission

A range of other agencies support the functions of these departments.

• The Legal Services Commission is a statutory authority, independent of government, "funded by both the South Australian and the Commonwealth Governments to provide legal assistance to South Australians".[21]

• First Nations Voice to Parliament (South Australia)
• List of South Australian government agencies
• List of South Australian Ministries

• Official website
• The Constitution of South Australia