1865 South Australian colonial election

← 1862 1–13 March 1865 1868 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 36 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 8 (of the 18) seats in the South Australian Legislative Council
Leader Arthur Blyth Francis Dutton Leader's seat Gumeracha Light
Premier before election Arthur Blyth Elected Premier Francis Dutton

The 1865 South Australian colonial election was held between 1 and 13 March 1865 to elect members to the 4th Parliament of South Australia. All 36 seats in the House of Assembly (the lower house, whose members were elected at the 1862 election), and eight of the 18 seats in the Legislative Council (the upper house, which had two casual vacancies to be filled) were up for re-election.

The election used non-compulsory plurality block voting, in which electors voted for as many candidates as they wished. Members of the House of Assembly were elected to 18 multi-member districts consisting of two seats each. Members of the Legislative Council were elected in a single 18-member district. Suffrage extended to men (including Aboriginals) over 21 years of age (who owned property worth at least £50, for the Legislative Council), unless they were "attainted or convicted of treason or felony".

No parties or solid groupings would be formed until after the 1890 election, which resulted in frequent changes of the Premier. If the incumbent Premier lost sufficient support through a successful motion of no confidence at any time, he would tender his resignation to the Governor, which would result in another member being elected and sworn in by the Governor as the next Premier.

House of Assembly (BV) – Turnout N/A (Non-CV)

Party			Votes			Seats
			Votes	%	Swing (pp)	Seats	Change
	Independent		13,339	100.0	±0.0	36	0
Total			13,339	100.0	–	36
Registered voters			14,256	–	–
Source: ECSA[1]

Legislative Council (BV) – Turnout 30.0% (Non-CV)

Party			Votes			Seats
			Votes	%	Swing (pp)	Seats	Change
	Independent		27,818	100.0	±0.0	18	0
Total			27,818	100.0	–	18
Informal votes			188	4.7	–2.6
Turnout			3,992	30.0	+8.7
Registered voters			13,291	–	–
Source: ECSA[2]

• Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1865–1868
• Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1865–1869

• "Statistical Record of the Legislature 1836–2007" (PDF). Parliament of South Australia. 24 April 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2011.