South Australia's planning system controls land use and the physical development of the state.
The legislation related to planning and development matters is contained in the Development Act 1993 and associated regulations.
Planning Strategy for South Australia
The Planning Strategy sets out the state government's directions for land-use changes and development in South Australia.
The directions in the strategy become policy at the council level when they are incorporated into the development plans for individual council areas.
Development plans
Each South Australian council has a development plan that guides the type of development that can occur within the council area.Planners use the policies in development plans to assess development applications.
Each council must align its development plan with the Planning Strategy through development plan amendments to ensure that the state government's planning directions are reflected in local development decisions and outcomes.
Annual report card
Each year the Minister for Planning reports to the South Australian Parliament on the progress made in meeting the goals and targets in each volume of the South Australian Planning Strategy:
- Annual report on the administration of the Development Act 1993, 2018-19 (242.2 KB PDF)
- Annual report on the administration of the Development Act 1993, 2017-18 (234.2 KB PDF)
- Annual report on the administration of the Development Act 1993, 2016-17 (553.3 KB PDF)
- Annual report on the administration of the Development Act 1993, 2015-16 (396.0 KB PDF)
For an alternative version of a document on this page see Planning contacts.
South Australian government regions
South Australian government departments and agencies use a consistent set of boundaries to define 12 administrative regions in the state. The boundaries help government partners develop and improve reporting, planning and service delivery. They also relate to the targets in South Australia's Strategic Plan.
- Overview map (534.6 KB PDF) - shows all 12 regions
- Detailed map (5.0 MB PDF) - shows the towns and local government areas in all 12 regions
- Location SA Map Viewer - shows all 12 regions in an online map.
The 12 regions
The following maps show each of the regions:
Adelaide metropolitan area
- Eastern Adelaide SA Government region (777.7 KB PDF)
- Northern Adelaide SA Government region (1.4 MB PDF)
- Southern Adelaide SA Government region (977.2 KB PDF)
- Western Adelaide SA Government region (1.1 MB PDF)
Greater Adelaide
- Adelaide Hills SA Government region (1.4 MB PDF)
- Barossa Light and Lower North SA Government region (1.4 MB PDF)
- Fleurieu Kangaroo Island SA Government region (3.4 MB PDF)
Country regions
Related information
Other websites
- Location SA Map Viewer
- Data SA - South Australian Government Data Directory
- Population - SA Planning Portal
