Government of South Australia

Government of South Australia
State Government
Formation	1856 as responsible Colonial government;; 1901 as an Australian state;
Founding document	Constitution of South Australia
State	South Australia
Country	Australia
Website	sa.gov.au
Legislative branch
Legislature	Parliament of South Australia SA Legislative Council; SA House of Assembly;
Meeting place	Parliament House
Executive branch
Vice-regal representative	Governor
Main body	Cabinet of South Australia
Head of government	Premier
Appointer	Governor on behalf of the Queen of Australia in right of the State of South Australia.
Headquarters	Parliament House
Main organ	Executive Council of South Australia
Judicial branch
Court	Supreme Court
Seat	Supreme Court building, Adelaide

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[2]

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:^[3]^[4]^[5]

Minister	Portfolio	Party affiliation	Shadow Minister	Portfolio	Party affiliation
The Hon. Steven Marshall MHA	Premier	Liberal	Peter Malinauskas MHA	Leader of the Opposition Shadow Minister for Defence and Space Industries	Labor
			The Hon. Tom Koutsantonis MHA	Shadow Minister for Government Accountability	Labor
			The Hon. Kyam Maher MLC	Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs	Labor
			The Hon. Zoe Bettison MHA	Shadow Minister for Tourism Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs	Labor
			Katrine Hildyard MHA	Shadow Minister for Arts	Labor
			Blair Boyer MHA	Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs	Labor
The Hon. Vickie Chapman MHA	Deputy Premier Attorney-General Minister for Planning and Local Government	Liberal	The Hon. Dr. Susan Close MHA	Deputy Leader of the Opposition	Labor
			Andrea Michaels MHA	Shadow Minister for Planning Shadow Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs	Labor
			The Hon. Kyam Maher MLC	Shadow Attorney-General	Labor
			The Hon. Emily Bourke MLC	Shadow Minister for Local Government Shadow Minister for the City of Adelaide	Labor
The Hon. Rob Lucas MLC	Treasurer	Liberal	The Hon. Stephen Mullighan MHA	Shadow Treasurer	Labor
			Andrea Michaels MHA	Shadow Minister for Housing Shadow Minister for Urban Development	Labor
			The Hon. Kyam Maher MLC	Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector	Labor
The Hon. Dan van Holst Pellekaan MHA	Minister for Energy and Mining	Liberal	The Hon. Tom Koutsantonis MHA	Shadow Minister for Mining and Energy	Labor
The Hon. John Gardner MHA	Minister for Education	Liberal	Blair Boyer MHA	Shadow Minister for Education	Labor
The Hon. John Gardner MHA	Minister for Education	Liberal	The Hon. Dr. Susan Close MHA	Shadow Minister for Higher Education	Labor
The Hon. Michelle Lensink MLC	Minister for Human Services	Liberal	Nat Cook MHA	Shadow Minister for Human Services	Labor
The Hon. Michelle Lensink MLC	Minister for Human Services	Liberal	Katrine Hildyard MHA	Shadow Minister for Women	Labor
The Hon. David Pisoni MHA	Minister for Innovation and Skills	Liberal	Peter Malinauskas MHA	Shadow Minister for Jobs	Labor
			Blair Boyer MHA	Shadow Minister for Training and Skills	Labor
			The Hon. Dr. Susan Close MHA	Shadow Minister for Industry	Labor
			Andrea Michaels MHA	Shadow Minister for Small and Family Business	Labor
The Hon. Stephen Wade MLC	Minister for Health and Wellbeing	Liberal	Chris Picton MHA	Shadow Minister for Health and Wellbeing	Labor
The Hon. Rachel Sanderson MHA	Minister for Child Protection	Liberal	Katrine Hildyard MHA	Shadow Minister for Child Protection Shadow Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence	Labor
The Hon. Corey Wingard MHA	Minister for Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing	Liberal	The Hon. Tom Koutsantonis MHA	Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport	Labor
The Hon. Corey Wingard MHA		Liberal	Katrine Hildyard MHA	Shadow Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing	Labor
The Hon. David Speirs MHA	Minister for Environment and Water	Liberal	The Hon. Dr. Susan Close MHA	Shadow Minister for Environment and Water Shadow Minister for Climate Change	Labor
The Hon. Vincent Tarzia MHA	Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services	Liberal	Lee Odenwalder MHA	Shadow Minister for Police and Road Safety Shadow Minister for Emergency Services Shadow Minister for Correctional Services	Labor
The Hon. David Basham MLC	Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development	Liberal	The Hon. Clare Scriven MLC	Shadow Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Shadow Minister for Forestry	Labor
The Hon. Stephen Patterson MHA	Minister for Trade and Investment	Liberal	The Hon. Zoe Bettison MHA	Shadow Minister for Trade and Investment	Labor

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. As of March 2020 there were 28 government departments and agencies listed on sa.gov.au, being:^[6]

Attorney-General's Department (includes Forensic Science SA)^[7]
Auditor-General's Department
Department for Child Protection
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
- (EPA) - "independent statutory authority within the Environment and Water Portfolio"^[8]
Department for Energy and Mining^[9]
Green Industries SA^[8]^[10]
Department for Health and Wellbeing
SA Housing Authority
Department of Human Services
^[11]
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".^[12]

Brands[]

SA Health is "the brand name for the health portfolio of services and agencies responsible to our Minister, the ", including:^[13]
- Department for Health and Wellbeing
- SA Ambulance Service
- Commission on Excellence and Innovation in Health
- Wellbeing SA
- Various regional health networks

Government business enterprises[]

South Australian Forestry Corporation trading as ForestrySA^[14]
South Australian Water Corporation trading as SA Water^[15]

References[]

^ Constitution Act 1934 (SA) s.4
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Constitution Act 1934 - SECT 41". www8.austlii.edu.au. Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
^ "The Ministry" (PDF). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
^ "Ministerial Order of Precedence" (PDF). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
^ "South Australian Shadow Cabinet Updates" (PDF). Retrieved 17 July 2021.
^ "Government". SA.GOV.AU. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
^ "Home". Government of South Australia. Attorney General's Department. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Organisation". Environment Protection Authority. Retrieved 25 March 2020. Note link to document behind "Environment and Water Portfolio", showing an organisational structure chart: Environment & Conservation Portfolio as at 22 April 2018. Green Industries SA, EPA and DEW all report to the Minister.
^ "Home". Department for Energy and Mining. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
^ "About Green Industries SA". Green Industries SA. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
^ "Home". South Australia. Department for Innovation and Skills. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
^ "About". Legal Services Commission of SA. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
^ "About SA Health". SA Health. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
^ "ForestrySA Corporate Overview". ForestrySA. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
^ "About us". SA Water. Retrieved 18 August 2015.

External links[]

[1] Constitution Act 1934 (SA) s.4

[deadlocks-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Constitution Act 1934 - SECT 41". www8.austlii.edu.au. Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 5 December 2019.

[3] "The Ministry" (PDF). Retrieved 17 July 2021.

[4] "Ministerial Order of Precedence" (PDF). Retrieved 17 July 2021.

[5] "South Australian Shadow Cabinet Updates" (PDF). Retrieved 17 July 2021.

[SA.GOV.AU_2020-6] "Government". SA.GOV.AU. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.

[7] "Home". Government of South Australia. Attorney General's Department. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.

[epa-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Organisation". Environment Protection Authority. Retrieved 25 March 2020. Note link to document behind "Environment and Water Portfolio", showing an organisational structure chart: Environment & Conservation Portfolio as at 22 April 2018. Green Industries SA, EPA and DEW all report to the Minister.

[9] "Home". Department for Energy and Mining. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.

[Green_Industries_SA-10] "About Green Industries SA". Green Industries SA. Retrieved 25 March 2020.

[11] "Home". South Australia. Department for Innovation and Skills. Retrieved 25 March 2020.

[12] "About". Legal Services Commission of SA. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.

[aboutsah-13] "About SA Health". SA Health. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2020.

[14] "ForestrySA Corporate Overview". ForestrySA. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.

[15] "About us". SA Water. Retrieved 18 August 2015.

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