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The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the
Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
democratic administrative authority of
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. It is modelled on the Westminster system of government, which is governed by an elected
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.


History

Until 1857, the Province of South Australia was ruled by a
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
responsible to the
British Crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...
. The Government of South Australia was formed in 1857, as prescribed in its
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
created by the Constitution Act 1856 (an
act of parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
of the then
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...
under
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
), which created South Australia as a
self-governing colony In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with an elected government in which elected rulers were able to make most decisions without referring to the colonial power with nominal control of the colony. This was in contrast to a ...
rather than being a province governed from Britain. Since the
federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...
in 1901, South Australia has been a state of the
Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, which is a
constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
, and the
Constitution of Australia The Constitution of Australia (or Australian Constitution) is a written constitution, constitutional document that is Constitution, supreme law in Australia. It establishes Australia as a Federation of Australia, federation under a constitutio ...
regulates the state of South Australia's 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. In 1934, the 1856 Act was repealed, along with a few other acts which had amended it, and replaced by the ''
Constitution Act 1934 The principles of the current Constitution of South Australia, also known as the South Australian Constitution, which includes the rules and procedures for the government of the State of South Australia, are set out in the ''Constitution Act 193 ...
'', which is still in force, with amendments.


Legislative powers

Legislative power rests with the
Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are ...
, which consists of the
House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...
and the Legislative Council, with
general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
held every four years. 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 A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). 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 A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
based on the model of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. 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 The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...
and the
Cabinet of South Australia The Cabinet of South Australia is the chief policy-making organ of the Government of South Australia. In South Australia, the cabinet is interchangeably known as the ministry as there is no "outer ministry" – therefore all ministers are in cabinet ...
, who advise the Governor. The Cabinet comprises 15 ministers, headed by the Premier, who are either members of the
House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...
or the Legislative Council. Cabinet is responsible for determining policies which are submitted to Parliament. Judicial power is exercised by the
Supreme Court of South Australia The Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court of the Australian state of South Australia. The Supreme Court is the highest South Australian court in the Australian court hierarchy. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in ...
and a system of subordinate courts, but the
High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...
and other federal courts have overriding jurisdiction on matters which fall under the ambit of the Australian Constitution.


Current ministry

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


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 A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, â ...
who is a member of the Parliament. there were 28
government department Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration." ЭнциклоР...
s and agencies listed on sa.gov.au, being: *Attorney-General's Department (includes Forensic Science SA) *Auditor-General's Department *Department for Child Protection (formerly Families SA, Family and Youth Services, Family and Community Services) *
Department for Correctional Services The Department for Correctional Services is the department of the Government of South Australia responsible for adult prisoners, including supervision of offenders and their rehabilitation, in order to protect the public against further crime ...
*
Country Fire Service The South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS, commonly abbreviated as CFS) is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting and Hazardous Waste ...
(CFS) *Courts Administration Authority (CAA) *Defence SA *
Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...
*
Electoral Commission of South Australia The Electoral Commission SA is an independent office which forms part of the Government of South Australia, and which conducts parliamentary state elections every four years. History In 1907 the then State Electoral Department was establis ...
*
Department for Environment and Water The Department for Environment and Water (DEW) is a department of the Government of South Australia. Created on 1 July 2012 by the merger of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department for Water as the Department of ...
** Environment Protection Authority (EPA) - "independent statutory authority within the Environment and Water Portfolio" 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. *Department for Energy and Mining *Green Industries SA *Department for Health and Wellbeing *SA Housing Authority *Department of Human Services *
Department for Innovation and Skills Government in South Australia is delivered by a number of agencies, grouped under areas of portfolio responsibility. Each portfolio is led by a Minister (government), government minister who is a member of the Parliament of South Australia, ap ...
*
South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service The South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service (SAMFS) is the fire service for metropolitan and urban South Australia, as well as large townships. The Metropolitan Fire Service is constituted under the ''Fire and Emergency Services Act''. The M ...
(MFS) *
Department for Infrastructure and Transport The Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT), formerly the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI), is a large department of the government of South Australia. The website was renamed , but without a formal announce ...
* Department of the Premier and Cabinet *
Primary Industries and Regions SA Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA), also known as Primary Industries and Regions South Australia, and the Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA, is an agency of the South Australian Government whose focus is the economic developme ...
(PIRSA), formerly Department of PIRSA *Department for Trade and Investment *Department of Treasury and Finance *SAFECOM *
South Australia Police South Australia Police (SAPOL) is the police force of the Australian state of South Australia. SAPOL is an independent statutory agency of the Government of South Australia directed by the Commissioner of Police, who reports to the Minister for ...
*State Emergency Service *TAFE SA *
South Australian Tourism Commission The South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC), also known as the SA Tourism Commission, is an organisation set up by the Government of South Australia to promote tourism in South Australia. The legislation to establish the SATC was introduce ...
A range of other agencies support the functions of these departments. *The Legal Services Commission is a
statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...
, independent of government, "funded by both the South Australian and the Commonwealth Governments to provide legal assistance to South Australians".


Brands

* SA Health is "the brand name for the health portfolio of services and agencies responsible to our Minister, the Minister for Health and Wellbeing", including: **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 South Australian Forestry Corporation (trading as ForestrySA) is a business enterprise owned by the Government of South Australia which is responsible for management of publicly owned plantation forests in South Australia including the commercia ...
trading as ForestrySA *South Australian Water Corporation trading as
SA Water SA Water is a government business enterprise wholly owned by the Government of South Australia. History SA Water was established by the proclamation of the ''South Australian Water Corporation Act 1994'' on 1 July 1995. Prior to this its predec ...


See also

*
List of South Australian government agencies Government in South Australia is delivered 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 of South Australia, appointed by the Governor ...
* List of South Australian Ministries


References


External links

*
The Constitution of South Australia
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