2026 South Australian state election

← 2022 21 March 2026 (2026-03-21) 2030 →
All 47 seats in the House of Assembly 24 seats needed for a majority 11 of 22 seats in the Legislative Council
Opinion polls
Registered	1,317,186[1] (as of 27 February 2026)
Leader Peter Malinauskas Ashton Hurn Party Labor Liberal Leader since 9 April 2018 8 December 2025 Leader's seat Croydon Schubert Last election 27 seats 16 seats Current seats 29[a] 13[a] Seats needed 11 2PP @ 2022 54.6% 45.4%
Map of House of Assembly electorates.
Incumbent Premier Peter Malinauskas Labor

The 2026 South Australian state election will be held on 21 March 2026 to elect the 56th Parliament of South Australia. All 47 seats in the House of Assembly will be up for election, along with 11 of the 22 seats in the Legislative Council.

The incumbent Labor government, led by Premier Peter Malinauskas, will seek a second four-year term in government. They will be challenged by the Liberal Party, led by Opposition Leader Ashton Hurn. In addition to the two major parties, the Greens and One Nation will be contesting every lower house electorate. Several other other minor parties and independents will also contest the election in both houses. This election will see 436 candidates across both houses, the most in the state's history.^[3]

South Australia has compulsory voting, with full-preference instant-runoff voting for single-member electorates in the lower house, and optional preference single transferable voting in the proportionally represented upper house. The election will be conducted by the Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA), an independent body answerable to Parliament, and will be held on the same day as the South Australian First Nations Voice election.^[4][5]

At the previous election in March 2022, the Labor Party, led by Peter Malinauskas, formed government after spending four years in opposition, winning 27 seats in the House of Assembly, enough for a four-seat majority. The Liberal Party that had previously governed under Steven Marshall, won only 16 seats and formed the official opposition. The crossbench consisted of four independents: Troy Bell, Geoff Brock, Dan Cregan, and Fraser Ellis.

In the Legislative Council, Labor gained a ninth seat, becoming the largest party in the upper house. Following the election, Liberal MLC Terry Stephens was unexpectedly re-elected to the chamber's presidency, meaning that Labor only required two additional votes to pass legislation. The Liberals were reduced to eight seats, and the Greens remained steady at two. SA-Best failed to win another seat with just 1% of the vote, leaving them with the two that they won at the 2018 election. One Nation won an upper house seat, with Sarah Game becoming the party's first Parliamentary representative in South Australia.

In April 2022, Liberal MP Vickie Chapman wrote a letter to the Speaker of the House Dan Cregan indicating her intention to resign on 31 May. This was interpreted by Cregan, backed up with legal advice, that this was an official resignation date, which she disputed. Labor declined to move a motion to declare her seat vacant, with the Leader of Government Business Tom Koutsantonis stating that it was a matter for the Liberal Party and the Leader of the Opposition.^[6] Regardless, Chapman resigned on 31 May, triggering a by-election in her seat of Bragg. Held on 2 July, Liberal candidate Jack Batty retained the seat for the party with a margin of 5.6 percentage points, representing a 2.5 per cent swing towards Labor from the state election four months prior.^[7]

In January 2023, Liberal MLC Stephen Wade resigned from the Legislative Council.^[8] His position was filled by Ben Hood in March 2023.^{[citation needed]} In July 2023, Nick McBride left the Liberal Party to sit as an independent, claiming that dark forces" in party factions had created an environment of disunity and backstabbing.^[9] In October 2023, Labor MLC Irene Pnevmatikos resigned after being re-diagnosed with kidney cancer.^[10] Her vacancy was filled by Mira El Dannawi.^[11] In December 2023, SA-Best MLC Frank Pangallo left the party to sit as an independent after a feud with the party's other upper house member Connie Bonaros over the government's proposed university merger.^[12]

In February 2024, former premier Steven Marshall resigned from Parliament and retired from politics, triggering a by-election in his seat of Dunstan.^[13] Held on 23 March, Labor candidate Cressida O'Hanlon won the marginal seat with a 1.4 per cent swing towards her, increasing Labor's numbers in the lower house to 28.^[14] It was the first time that a sitting government in South Australia had taken a seat from the opposition at a by-election in over a century.^[15] In April 2024, Dan Cregan resigned as Speaker of the House. Labor MP Leon Bignell was elected unopposed to the position later that month and temporarily left the Labor Party, as is required for the role of Speaker.^[16] In October 2024, former Leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition David Speirs resigned from Parliament after revealing that he had been arrested on suspicion of drug offences.^[17] The ensuing by-election in his seat of Black was won by Labor's Alex Dighton, who received a 12.6 per cent swing. It was the second seat Labor had gained from a by-election within nine months, further increasing their majority and reducing the Liberals to 13 seats in the lower house.^[15]

In January 2025, Liberal MLC Jing Lee quit the party to sit as an independent.^[18] In May 2025, MLC Tammy Franks quit the Greens to sit as an independent, due to internal tensions within the party.^[19] A week later, Sarah Game, the first One Nation candidate elected to the South Australian Parliament, quit the party, stating that there were problems with how the party's brand was perceived.^[20] She later formed her own party, Fair Go for Australians, in July.^[21] In August 2025, independent MLC Frank Pangallo joined the Liberal Party to run as their candidate for Waite in the state election.^[22] In September 2025, Independent MP Troy Bell resigned from Parliament after an unsuccessful appeal against his theft and fraud charges. A by-election was not held due to the cost of a regional by-election and the closeness to the state election.^[23] Speaker of the House Leon Bignell rejoined the Labor Party on 5 September 2025.^[24]

Parties are listed according to their primary vote share at the previous state election.

Affiliation		House of Assembly			Legislative Council
		2022 election	At dissolution	Change	2022 election	At dissolution	Change
	Labor	27	29	2	9	9
	Liberal	16	13	3	8	8
	Greens	0	0		2	1	1
	Independent	4	4		0	1	1
	One Nation	0	0		1	0	1
	SA-Best	0	0		2	1	1
	Better Community	0	0		0	1	1
	Fair Go	0	0		0	1	1
	Vacant	0	1	1	0	0
Total seats		47			22

Members of the House of Assembly are elected by instant-runoff voting using full preferential voting. Each electoral district elects a single member.

Members of the Legislative Council are elected by proportional representation using a single transferable vote. Members serve staggered eight-year terms with half of the Council elected at each state election.

Abolished district

The Electoral district of Frome was abolished and replaced with the district of Ngadjuri.

As required under the South Australian Constitution, the South Australian Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission must re-draw the boundaries of the House of Assembly electoral districts after each election.

The Commission's report was handed down in December 2024. The report noted that given the outcome of the previous election, it was possible to achieve minimal disturbance in the redistribution. The only electoral district outside of the allowable electoral quota was Taylor, which was 12.6% over and projected to be 18.6% by the middle of 2026. Five other districts were calculated to have a quota variance at or above 8% by 2026: Croydon (+8.1%), Flinders (–8.0%), Giles (–10.1%), Kaurna (+10.0%), and Kavel (10.0%). In the draft report four months earlier, the commission had recommended changes to the boundaries of Flinders, Black, Croydon, Gibson, Morphett, and West Torrens, but decided to retain the boundaries from the 2020 redistribution. Changes were made to 16 of the 47 districts. The redistribution meant that only five districts had a variance quota greater than five per cent.^{[25]: 16–17}

The Commission received two submissions to rename electoral districts. John Fulbrook, the member for Playford, requested that the district be renamed to avoid confusion with the City of Playford Council. He explained that his office once received 30 phone calls in a day from City of Playford ratepayers over a proposed increase in council rates. This suggestion was rejected, with the Commission stating that the electoral district has borne the name of Playford for 18 years longer than the local government area.^{[25]: 17–18}

Reggie Martin MLC made a submission concerning the name of the Electoral district of Frome. The district was named after the third Surveyor General of South Australia, Edward Charles Frome. Martin expressed concerns over the use of Frome's name due to his involvement in retributive actions against Aboriginal people in the Coorong area following the Maria massacre. The Commission sought further information from Dr Skye Krichauff, a historian specialising in South Australian colonial history and the relations between Aboriginal people and colonists, and Professor Irene Watson. The Commission determined that the district should be renamed, and received various submissions from Aboriginal organisations who have a connection to the area encompassed by the district of Frome. The name "Ngadjuri", meaning "we people", was chosen over the name "Cowie", meaning "water".^{[25]: 18–24}

Submissions were also made for the commemorative naming of electoral districts following the deaths of former premier Steele Hall, and Indigenous rights advocate Lowitja O'Donoghue. The Commission determined that the names were appropriate for an electoral district, however, it is current practice under the Geographical Names Act 1991 that a person should be dead for at least a year before their name is considered for commemorative naming. Submissions were also made for naming in honour of political activist Elizabeth Rose Hanretty, and former premiers John Bannon and David Tonkin. The Commission determined that their names may be appropriate for an electoral district in a future redistribution.^{[25]: 24–25}

The last state election was held on 19 March 2022 to elect members for the House of Assembly and half of the members in the Legislative Council. In South Australia, section 28 of the Constitution Act 1934, as amended in 2001, directs that parliaments have fixed four-year terms, and elections must be held on the third Saturday in March every four years unless this date falls the day after Good Friday, occurs within the same month as a federal election, or the conduct of the election could be adversely affected by a state disaster. Section 28 also states that the Governor may also dissolve the Assembly and call an election for an earlier date if the government has lost the confidence of the Assembly or a bill of special importance has been rejected by the Legislative Council. Section 41 states that both the Council and the Assembly may also be dissolved simultaneously if a deadlock occurs between them.^[26]

The Electoral (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2013 introduced set dates for writs for general elections in South Australia.^[27] The writ sets the dates for the close of the electoral roll and the close of nominations for an election. The Electoral Act 1985 requires that, for a general election, the writ be issued 28 days before the date fixed for polling (S47(2a)) and the electoral roll be closed at 12 noon, six days after the issue of the writ (S48(3(a)(i))). The close of nominations will be at 12 noon three days after the close of rolls (Electoral Act 1985 S48(4)(a) and S4(1)).^[28][29][30]

There were 18 political parties registered with the Electoral Commission of South Australia at the declaration of nominations on 2 March 2026.^[31] Parties in bold fielded at least one candidate in either the House of Assembly or Legislative Council election.

A total of 436 candidates will contest the election for the 56th Parliament of South Australia, up from 291 in 2022, and the most in the state's history. 388 will stand for the 47 House of Assembly seats and 48 for the 11 Legislative Council vacancies. Of the 436 candidates, 268 are men, 164 are women, with four unspecified. The most heavily contested seats are Hammond and Port Adelaide with 12 candidates in each electorate. It is the first time that a single seat will be contested by more than nine candidates. By contrast, the least contested seat is Bragg, with just five candidates.^[32]

Five parties, Labor, Liberal, the Greens, One Nation, and the Australian Family Party, will contest all 47 lower house districts. Antony Green notes that a majority of candidates are from minor right-wing parties, which would mostly disadvantage the Liberal Party as some preferences will leak away to Labor, who don't have to contend with a similar fracturing of support.^[33] A number of parties are fielding large numbers of candidates in the upper house election: Labor have seven candidates, Liberal and SA-Best have five each, One Nation have four, and the Greens and the Australian Family Party have three each.^[34]

This section is an excerpt from Candidates of the 2026 South Australian state election § Retiring members.[]

Susan Close; Deputy Premier (2022–2025)

Stephen Mullighan; Treasurer (2022–2025)

Labor

• Susan Close MP (Port Adelaide) – announced 18 September 2025^[35]
• Stephen Mullighan MP (Lee) – announced 18 September 2025^[35]
• Lee Odenwalder MP (Elizabeth) – announced 9 October 2025^[36]
• Dana Wortley MP (Torrens) – announced 9 October 2025^[36]
• Leon Bignell MP (Mawson) – announced 27 November 2025^[37]
• Andrea Michaels MP (Enfield) – announced 30 January 2026^[38]

Liberal

• David Pisoni MP (Unley) – announced 8 October 2024^[39]
• John Gardner MP (Morialta) – announced 13 December 2024^[40]
• Matt Cowdrey MP (Colton) – announced 27 June 2025^[41]
• Terry Stephens MLC – announced 23 July 2025^[42]

Independent

• Tammy Franks MLC – announced 30 September 2024.^[43] On 9 February 2026, she announced that she would run as an independent candidate for the Legislative Council.^[44]
• Dan Cregan MP (Kavel) – announced 28 January 2025^[45]
• Troy Bell MP (Mount Gambier) – resigned 1 September 2025. Seat left vacant.^[46]

The Electoral (Accountability and Integrity) Amendment Act 2024 came into effect on 1 July 2025,^[47] having passed Parliament with the support of Labor, Liberal, the Greens, and most independents.^[48] The new laws introduced a ban on political donations to political parties, candidates, members of Parliament, and third parties. Instead, parties and individuals will receive public funding, which includes administrative funding for political parties limited to non-political use, advanced funding for parties participating in elections, and policy development funding of up to $20,000 a year (indexed with inflation) to eligible parties.^[49] Non-incumbent candidates and newly registered political parties are exempt from the ban on donations and can access advanced payment to help with campaign expenses, in order to reduce barriers for new entrants into the political system.^[50] Third party groups, including businesses, trade unions, and think tanks, have an expenditure cap of $450,000 during an election campaign.^[51]

Candidates will receive funding based on the number of votes received at the previous general election, subject to whether or not they are affiliated with a registered political party, and whether or not that party has representation in Parliament. Candidates endorsed by a party with Parliamentary representation will receive $5.50 per vote, while candidates of parties with no members of Parliament at the time of dissolution will receive $6 per vote for the first 10% of total primary votes, and $5.50 for each vote thereafter. Incumbent independent candidates will receive $8.50 per vote, while non-incumbent independent candidates would receive $9 per vote up until 10 per cent of total primary votes, and $8.50 per vote above 10 per cent.^[52]

The new laws were welcomed by the Centre for Public Integrity, who believe that laws "gets the balance right".^[50] Public policy think tank The Australia Institute argued that the changes could lead to a less democratic system, stating that the vast majority of funding would go to the major parties and would make it harder for new entrants to campaign against incumbents.^[50][53] Independent Federal Senator David Pocock also opposed the legislation, calling it "a major party stitch-up that subverts parliamentary process and seeks to lock out more community independents."^[50]

Right-wing lobby group Turning Point Australia (TPAUS), an offshoot of the organisation formed by American right-wing activist Charlie Kirk,^[54] intends to lobby for minor right-wing parties at the election, and to this end established a chapter in South Australia in September 2025. TPAUS aims to establish chapters across Australia, including in high schools and universities, with its leader, Joel Jammal, wanting politicians to see the organisation as "the biggest threat in keeping voters informed".^[55] The group expects to spend over A$10,000 on their campaign, which will see them hosting events on university campuses, among other events.^[54]

The Liberal Party directed preferences to One Nation over Labor,^[56] which drew criticism after Cory Bernardi, the lead candidate for One Nation's upper house ticket, stated the same day that he stood by comments he made 14 years prior linking gay marriage to the social acceptance of bestiality and backed party leader Pauline Hanson's suggestion that there were "no good Muslims".^[57] Labor preferenced One Nation last in 44 out of 47 seats, with Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis stating that party rules specifically prohibited a deal with One Nation after Bernardi claimed that both parties had approached them.^[58] In the remaining three seats, David Speirs, Fraser Ellis, and Nick McBride, all incumbent independents whom were formerly elected with the Liberal Party, were put last in Black, Narungga, and MacKillop respectively.^[56] Speirs, who was convicted of drug supply charges in April 2025, was preferenced last by both Labor and Liberal shortly after he announced his candidacy.^[59] One Nation did not direct preferences.^[58]

On 11 March, the lead candidate for the Sarah Game Fair Go Party, former AFL Chris McDermott, split from the party, citing irreconcilable differences, though will still appear on the top of the party’s ballot and will sit as an independent if elected. Sarah Game subsequently advised voters to not vote for the party in the Legislative Council.^[60]

On 12 March, the Liberal Party’s candidate for Wright, Carlton Woodhouse, was disendorsed after comments he made on an American podcast demonising Islam, feminism, same-sex marriage and "the trans agenda" came to light. Though Woodhouse lost his endorsement as a Liberal Party candidate, as nominations had closed, he will still appear on the Wright ballot as the Liberal candidate. On the same day, Hurn confirmed that whole Woodhouse was no longer the party’s candidate for Wright, the party would still honour a contract Woodhouse had to work at Liberal Party headquarters. Alex Antic, a South Australian Liberal Party Senator aligned with its conservative faction criticised the disendorsement, saying while he hadn’t read what Woodhouse had said, “if this guy is disendorsed, or if he feels compelled to leave, we might as well shut the doors on this election with one week to go."^[61]

This section is an excerpt from Opinion polling for the 2026 South Australian state election § Graphical summary.[]

This section is an excerpt from 2026 South Australian Legislative Council election § Overall results.[]

Legislative Council (STV) – Turnout TBD (CV)

Party		Primary votes			Seats
		Votes	%	Swing (pp)	Seats won	Not up	New Total	Change
	Labor					5
	Liberal					4
	Greens					1
	One Nation					0
	Family First					0
	Legalise Cannabis					0
	Animal Justice					0
	Ungrouped/Independent					0
	SA-Best					0
	Real Change					0
	Australian Family					0
	National					0
	Better Community			New		0
	Fair Go			New		1
	United Voice			New		0
Total			100.0	–	11	11	22
Informal votes
Turnout
Enrolled voters			–	–
Source: Electoral Commission of South Australia