Government of South Australia


The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or Her Majesty’s Government is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. The Government of South Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, was formed in 1856 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended from time to time. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, South Australia has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Constitution of Australia regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth. 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.

Legislative powers

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. At these fixed four yearly elections the whole Assembly is up for re-election and 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.

Executive and judicial powers

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.
Executive power rests formally with the executive council, which consists of the governor and senior ministers. In practice, executive power is exercised by the premier of South Australia and the cabinet, who are appointed by the governor, but who hold office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the House of Assembly.
Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court of South Australia and a system of subordinate courts, but the High Court of Australia and other federal courts have overriding jurisdiction on matters which fall under the ambit of the Australian constitution.

Current ministry

The current ministry of the South Australian Government comprises the following Liberal members:

Government agencies

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. there were 28 government departments and agencies listed on sa.gov.au, being:
A range of other agencies support the functions of these departments.