The lists of A-Z Acts on this website contain:

  • the text of all principal Acts in force at 1 January 2003 or subsequently enacted (whether still in force or repealed or expired), other than Acts classified in the 2003 Annual Index of South Australian Statutes as Acts of limited application
  • information about—
    • Acts of limited application that were in force at 1 January 1976 (whether still in force or since repealed or expired)
    • Statutes Amendment Acts, Statute Law Revision Acts, and Repeal Acts, enacted after 1 January 1976
    • Acts that ceased to operate after 1 January 1976 and before 1 January 2003.

Historically, some South Australian Acts were classified as 'of limited application'.

The majority of the Acts classified in this way were either:

  • of local or restricted application or
  • private Acts.

A small number of public Acts of general application are not of general interest and have been treated as Acts of limited application (for example the: Housing Agreement Acts of 1978 and 1981).

Acts that are not currently in operation but that have not been repealed have also been treated as being of limited interest.

By default, Acts of limited application are hidden in in A-Z lists of legislation the same way as ceased legislation (see 'In force and ceased Acts' below).

By default, the A-Z lists of Acts on this website list Acts that are currently in force.

Ceased Acts and Acts of limited application can be made visible by pressing the button labelled 'Show ceased Acts and Acts of limited application' .

The A-Z Acts list contains:

  • Acts currently in force.
  • Ceased Acts and Acts of limited application.
  • Current ('up to date') versions of Acts currently in force.
  • Historical  ('previous') versions of Acts currently in force.

See the 1936 and 1975 Consolidated Acts for information about Acts that ceased before 1 January 1976.

Other notes about the A-Z list of consolidated Acts:

  • Amending Acts, Appropriation Acts and Supply Acts are not included in the A Z list
  • The A-Z list displays changes to the short titles of Acts that have occurred after 1 January 1976
  • The A-Z list is designed to match the Acts listed in the Index of South Australian legislation.

A current version of an Act is the version currently in force or, if the Act has not yet come into operation, the version currently forming part of the State's Statute Book.

A historical version of an Act is a version of the Act as previously in operation, whether then uncommenced or in force.

Dates are listed on the homepage of Acts, and within PDF and rtf versions:

  • for current versions - this date indicates when that version of the legislation came into operation.
  • for historical versions - the dates indicate the period when that version of the legislation started and finished operation.

Other versions of the legislation may have been in force before or after these dates.

Since 1 January 2004 separate versions for separate commencement and cessation dates have been prepared to provide point in time access to the law. For versions that ceased operation before 1 January 2004 there may be gaps in the date ranges of historical versions. Examples of pre 1 January 2004 versions where gaps may be present include:

  • between the beginning date of a version derived from a reprint that included several amendments commencing on different dates and the end date of the preceding version. The beginning date for such a version is the latest date on which an amendment incorporated into the reprint commenced.
  • where historical versions are affected by retrospective amendments. The unamended versions of these documents may not have not been made available because they are not an accurate representation of the law.
  • past practices resulting in data loss.

Other notes on historical versions of Acts:

  • The version of any Act repealed since 1 January 2003 as in force immediately before its repeal is available.
  • Certain historical versions of Acts from 1991 onwards are available on the website.
  • Historical data that predates 1 January 2004 will generally not include graphics, such as maps, pictures and forms, and will only be available in PDF format.

The homepages for Acts included in the A-Z Acts lists:

  • display the status of the Act if it has ceased operation
  • display the Minister to whom the Act has been committed under the Administrative Arrangements Act 1994
  • display a table of available current and historical versions
  • include links to any subordinate legislation made under the Act
  • may display a warning about legislative events not yet reflected in the legislation on the website
  • may display links to other websites or resources relevant to the Act (e.g. if the Act is part of a national scheme, a link to that scheme).

If an Act is listed in the A-Z Acts list but its text is not available, the Act's webpage will display information about the Act from the Annual Index of South Australian legislation. This information can be used to access the As made version of this Act in the Numbered Acts 1837-2002 .

Legislative instruments (also known as subordinate legislation) related to Acts included in the A-Z list is detailed on an Act's webpage, as follows:

  • there are links to all current regulations and rules made by the Governor under the Act
  • there are links to or information about regulations and rules made by the Governor under the Act since 1976 but which have since ceased operation (although the information is limited due to a past practice of deleting the information once the repealing regulations had themselves ceased operation)
  • information is provided about other regulations made under the Act by bodies other than the Governor since 1 January 1976 (if any), and court rules made under the Act since 1 January 1976 (if any), of a kind that appears in the Annual Index of South Australian Statutes
  • in the case of the Aquaculture Act 2001 and the Environment Protection Act 1993, there are links to and information about the policies made under the Act
  • there is a link to proclamations (other than commencement proclamations) and notices made by the Governor under the Act in 2003 or a subsequent year that takes the user to the relevant place in the A-Z listing of proclamations and notices as made
  • information is provided about certain proclamations and notices made under the Act and published in the Gazette of 1976 and subsequent years.

At the back of each PDF and RTF version of an A-Z Act there is a legislative history that sets out:

  • status notes—including whether there are any uncommenced amendments affecting the legislation
  • if the legislation has been renamed, former names of the legislation
  • a list of legislation repealed or amended by the legislation—this is included if, in revising the legislation under the Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002, the repealing or amending provisions have been omitted from the legislation
  • cessation information—details about the repeal or expiry of the legislation or the forthcoming repeal or expiry of the legislation
  • details of the principal legislation and all amending legislation, including commencement details (New entries are highlighted in bold)
  • details of how and when provisions of the legislation have been amended. The details provided about the amendment of provisions of Acts cover amendments made since 3 February 1976. For details prior to that date see the 1975 consolidation of the Act. (New entries are highlighted in bold and entries relating to provisions that have ceased operation are displayed in italics)
  • details of how provisions of the legislation will be amended when uncommenced amendments commence
  • transitional and other provisions associated with the legislation or amendments of the legislation
  • a list of historical versions of the legislation that have been published in printed or electronic form.

Legislative history information may be presented in a different format, and have slightly different content, in older historical versions.