Charged in Adelaide? The earlier you act, the more options you have.

The South Australian Court System

Every criminal matter in South Australia starts at the Magistrates Court and moves upward based on the seriousness of the charge and the election of the parties. Understanding the hierarchy determines what you face, how long it may take, and what outcomes are available.

The Magistrates Court of South Australia

The Magistrates Court handles the greatest proportion of all criminal and civil matters in the state — approximately 80 percent of all disputes. All criminal proceedings begin here regardless of their eventual destination. The court hears and finalises summary offences and minor indictable offences, and conducts committal hearings for serious indictable matters destined for higher courts. The main Magistrates Court sits in Adelaide, with metropolitan courts at Christies Beach, Elizabeth, and Port Adelaide, and regional courts at Berri, Mount Gambier, and Port Augusta. Magistrates also sit on circuit across regional South Australia. The right to appeal from the Magistrates Court runs to either the District Court or the Supreme Court depending on the nature of the matter.

The District Court of South Australia

The District Court is the intermediate court and handles the bulk of serious criminal trials — robbery, serious drug offences, aggravated assault, sexual offences not reserved for the Supreme Court, and fraud at scale. It also hears appeals from the Magistrates Court in both criminal and civil matters. All District Court judges hear civil and criminal matters in Adelaide and at circuit locations across the state. The District Court was established in 1969.

The Supreme Court of South Australia

The Supreme Court of South Australia is the state’s highest court. Only the Supreme Court can hear cases involving murder and treason. Under the Supreme Court Act 1935 (SA), the court exercises original jurisdiction in the most serious criminal matters and sits as the Court of Criminal Appeal — hearing appeals on conviction, sentence, and questions of law from the District Court and, in some cases, directly from the Magistrates Court. The current Chief Justice of South Australia is the Honourable Laura Stein, appointed in February 2026. Appeals from the Supreme Court lie to the High Court of Australia, which requires special leave.

The Youth Court of South Australia

The Youth Court of South Australia is established under the Youth Court Act 1993 (SA) and deals with criminal matters involving young people aged 10 to 17. The Youth Court operates with its own legislative framework — the Young Offenders Act 1993 (SA), the Youth Justice Administration Act 2016 (SA), and the Bail Act 1985 (SA) as modified — and applies different principles from adult proceedings, with a focus on rehabilitation and diversion. The State Government’s Young Offender Plan, released in 2025 and implemented in February 2026 through the Criminal Law Consolidation (Street Gangs) Amendment Act 2025 (SA), strengthened bail and sentencing laws for serious repeat young offenders, while retaining a $3 million investment in programs to break reoffending cycles. South Australia has the second lowest youth offending rate in the country, after the ACT.

Drug Offences in South Australia

Drug law in South Australia is primarily governed by the Controlled Substances Act 1984 (SA), with some lesser offences captured under the Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA). The penalty structure is complex and tiered, with outcomes ranging from expiation to life imprisonment depending on the substance, quantity, and circumstances.

Simple possession and personal use of cannabis is expiable for small quantities — first-time offenders dealing with minor personal possession may receive an expiation notice rather than face prosecution. The maximum penalty for simple possession of a controlled drug is a $2,000 fine or two years imprisonment. For possession of a drug of dependence, the court may refer a person to an assessment panel rather than impose a criminal penalty directly.

Possession not at a commercial or trafficable quantity — the tier above simple possession — carries a maximum penalty of $50,000 or ten years imprisonment or both. Once a person possesses a quantity at or above the deeming provision threshold (effectively equivalent to trafficable quantity under Commonwealth law), they are presumed under the Controlled Substances Act 1984 (SA) to have intended to supply. The burden then shifts to the accused to prove on the balance of probabilities that the possession was for personal use. Items such as separately packaged quantities, scales, and cash found alongside drugs are treated as additional evidence of supply intent.

Trafficking in a controlled drug under section 32 of the Controlled Substances Act 1984 (SA) means selling, preparing to sell, possessing with intent to sell, or taking part in any step in the sale process — including packaging or transporting. The penalty structure escalates with quantity. At larger quantities, trafficking constitutes a major indictable offence with a maximum penalty of $1,000,000 or life imprisonment. Trafficking in a prescribed area — such as licensed premises or public events — attracts enhanced penalties of up to $75,000 or 15 years imprisonment, rising to $200,000 or 25 years for aggravated offences or where the offender is a serious drug offender. Supplying controlled drugs to a minor, or within a school zone, activates further penalty increases regardless of whether children were present at the time.

A critical change to SA drug law took effect in September 2022: where a drug’s pure form cannot be separately identified, the total mixed weight applies when determining quantity thresholds and penalties. This closes a previously available loophole where purity arguments could reduce the assessed quantity.

Commonwealth drug offences — importation, national trafficking — engage Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force, and are prosecuted under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). These carry maximum penalties of life imprisonment at commercial quantities and require specialist expertise in both state and federal criminal procedure running simultaneously.

Assault and Serious Violence

Assault offences in South Australia are governed by the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA). The spectrum extends from unlawful threats and minor assaults dealt with summarily in the Magistrates Court, through serious assaults occasioning harm, to the most serious offences causing death or grievous bodily harm.

Causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious harm by dangerous driving are serious indictable offences under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA). These charges are frequently aggravated — by driving while disqualified, driving at excessive speed (defined as exceeding the speed limit by 55km/h or more where the limit is 60km/h, or 80km/h or more where the limit is above 60km/h), driving with a BAC of 0.08 or above, or attempting to evade police pursuit. An aggravated offence carries imprisonment of up to five years and a mandatory licence disqualification of not less than two years.

Strangulation and choking became a standalone offence in South Australia from May 2025 under amendments to the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA). It is now an offence to choke, suffocate, or strangle another person without their consent, whether or not harm is caused, with a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment. Where the act causes unconsciousness, the maximum penalty also applies. This offence is particularly significant in the context of family violence — it captures conduct that was previously prosecuted only as assault when charged at all.

Serious and organised crime aggravation under section 5AA of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) applies where criminal offending is committed to benefit a criminal organisation. The Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act 2008 (SA) and the Serious and Organised Crime (Unexplained Wealth) Act 2009 (SA) create additional offences and enforcement tools. The Criminal Law Consolidation (Street Gangs) Amendment Act 2025 (SA), passed in November 2025 and implemented in February 2026, reformed these existing laws to address serious and organised crime activities across the state.

Domestic Violence, Intervention Orders and Bail Reforms

South Australia’s domestic and family violence legal framework has been substantially strengthened in recent years, with the most significant operational reform taking effect from 1 October 2024.

Intervention Orders under the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009 (SA) replace the older restraining order regime and operate as civil protective orders with criminal consequences for breach. An Intervention Order can prohibit a respondent from approaching or contacting a protected person, entering premises, and engaging in a wide range of specified conduct. Breaching an Intervention Order is a criminal offence.

From 1 October 2024, where a person is charged with breaching a domestic violence–related intervention order by committing or threatening physical violence, any grant of bail must include mandatory home detention and electronic monitoring conditions. This applies to all bail applications for offending on or after that date. In practice, there is a presumption against bail in these circumstances — bail in a violent DV breach matter is uncommon, and where it is granted, the defendant’s freedom of movement is severely restricted. Real-time GPS alerts are triggered for any breach of home detention conditions.

Breach of bail itself — where the bail condition relates to the physical protection of a victim — is listed under the Bail Act 1985 (SA) as a circumstance attracting a presumption against further bail. So too are matters involving suspected serious and organised crime.

The South Australian Government has also indicated an intention to introduce a standalone coercive control offence in South Australia, following a public consultation process. When implemented, it will carry a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and will criminalise patterns of controlling behaviour in intimate partner relationships. This reform remains under active development and is expected to have significant implications for how domestic violence matters are investigated, charged, and prosecuted in SA courts.

Sexual Offences

Sexual offence allegations carry the most severe legal, professional, and personal consequences in the criminal law. The Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) creates the framework of sexual offences — rape, indecent assault, and a range of offences against children — with maximum penalties that reflect the seriousness the law places on these matters.

Amendments made to the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) and the Evidence Act 1929 (SA) in 2008 modernised the definitions of sexual offences — including rape, child sexual abuse, and consent — and improved how courts manage the evidence of vulnerable witnesses. Audio recording of evidence and the ability to reuse evidence from earlier proceedings are now available.

Defending sexual offence allegations demands specialist skills at every stage: challenging the consistency of witness evidence, analysing digital communications, identifying procedural deficiencies in the investigation, and understanding the forensic evidence relevant to the matter. Decisions about whether to seek a preliminary hearing, what to challenge and how, and how to present the accused’s position in any record of interview each shape the course of proceedings that may span years.

Drink Driving and Traffic Offences

Traffic offences in South Australia span multiple statutes — the Road Traffic Act 1961 (SA), the Motor Vehicles Act 1959 (SA), the Motor Vehicles Regulations 2025 (SA), and the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) for the most serious driving offences. The relevant court for all drink driving matters is the Magistrates Court.

South Australia uses a BAC-based penalty structure with fines, demerit points, immediate licence suspension, and mandatory disqualification periods. For the most common offence category — BAC of 0.05 to 0.079 — a driver may be expiated with a $875 fee (as at 1 July 2025) and four demerit points, with no disqualification where expiated. Where the matter proceeds to court, a fine of $1,100, four demerit points, and a mandatory licence disqualification of not less than three months applies.

For BAC of 0.08 to 0.149, an immediate licence disqualification applies at the roadside. A court penalty of $900 to $1,300, five demerit points, and a mandatory disqualification of not less than six months for a first offence follows. BAC of 0.15 and above carries an immediate licence disqualification, a court penalty of $1,100 to $1,600, six demerit points, and a mandatory disqualification of not less than twelve months for a first offence. Second and subsequent offences attract substantially higher fines and longer disqualifications — a second BAC 0.15+ offence carries mandatory disqualification of not less than three years. In addition to any court-imposed fine, a victims of crime levy of $278 applies for each offence.

Drug driving under section 47BA of the Road Traffic Act 1961 (SA) — driving with a prescribed drug detected in oral fluid or blood — carries a first-offence expiation of $875 with a three-month disqualification, rising for subsequent offences to multi-year disqualifications. These offences are separate from Driving Under the Influence (DUI), which carries its own more serious penalty structure including possible imprisonment.

Serious driving offences — causing death or serious harm by dangerous driving under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) — carry mandatory imprisonment and licence disqualification. Extreme speeding offences (above the defined thresholds) carry up to five years imprisonment for aggravated offences.

Bail in South Australia

Bail in South Australia is governed by the Bail Act 1985 (SA). A bail agreement is a written undertaking to appear in court and comply with any conditions imposed. Bail can be granted by police or by a court. A refusal at one level does not preclude a further application — unlike in some other jurisdictions, the SA framework allows reapplication on changed circumstances.

Bail conditions vary enormously: residence conditions, reporting to police, curfews, no-contact conditions with named individuals, travel restrictions, and electronic monitoring. The strength and specificity of the conditions — and whether they accurately reflect what the court needs to be satisfied about — requires careful attention.

Where bail is refused at the police station for a serious offence, the arrested person must be brought before a court as soon as practicable. A bail application at that stage needs to be well-prepared: the evidence, the proposed conditions, appropriate surety if relevant, and any circumstances that distinguish this matter from the weight of the charge.

Presumptions against bail in SA apply in specific circumstances: violent breaches of domestic violence–related intervention orders, choking or strangulation offences in a domestic setting, breach of bail conditions that relate to victim protection, and matters involving suspected serious and organised crime. Where a presumption against bail applies, the applicant must satisfy the court that bail should be granted — a higher threshold that demands specialist preparation.

Your Rights When Questioned by South Australian Police

Under section 79A of the Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA), when a person is arrested in South Australia they must be informed of their right to silence and their right to contact a lawyer, a friend, or a relative. Police must caution you before interviewing you as a suspect. The caution must be delivered in a language you can understand — if you are not sufficiently fluent in English, you have a statutory right to an interpreter before the interview proceeds.

You are not required to answer police questions beyond providing your name, address, and date of birth. That right to silence is real and applies regardless of how the interaction is framed — whether as a voluntary conversation, an invitation to attend a station, or a formal recorded interview. Evidence obtained in a police interview is admissible only if the interview was conducted lawfully, the caution was effectively given, and any admissions were made voluntarily. An interview conducted under pressure or coercion, or admissions obtained by improper means, can be challenged.

Do not agree to a police interview without first speaking with a criminal defence lawyer. What you say — including what you say informally before any recording begins — can form part of the evidence in subsequent proceedings.