A state election was held on 21 March 2026 to elect the members of the 56th Parliament of South Australia. All 47 seats in the House of Assembly (lower house) were up for election, along with 11 of the 22 seats in the Legislative Council (upper house).
The incumbent Labor government, led by Premier Peter Malinauskas, was elected to a second four-year term in government in a landslide victory. In terms of both raw seats and percentage of seats available, it is SA Labor's greatest ever victory, exceeding its previous record in 1930, its best showing since the introduction of single-member districts in 1938, and the second-largest majority government in South Australian history. The opposition Liberal Party, led by Ashton Hurn, suffered a large swing against it and received fewer primary votes than right-wing populist party One Nation. They were also reduced to their smallest-ever presence in the legislature, finishing only one seat ahead of One Nation. This marks the first time the Liberal Party have finished outside the top two highest parties by vote share at a South Australian election, and One Nation's best performance in any state or federal election since the 1998 Queensland state election, when the party won 22.68%. An attempt to calculate a statewide two-party preferred vote was abandoned when it became apparent One Nation's showing was strong enough to render any 2PP result meaningless.
Aside from Labor, the Liberals and One Nation, other minor parties and independents contested the election. Left-wing environmentalist party the Greens recorded its highest share of votes at a South Australian election, though the party did not win any lower house seats. In total 436 candidates across both houses contested seats at this election.
In total Labor won 34 seats in the House of Assembly, while the Liberals won 5 seats, One Nation won 4 seats, and independents claimed 4 seats. In the Legislative Council, Labor won 5 seats, One Nation 3, Liberals 2 and the Greens 1 seat. This left the Labor government with 10 seats in the 22-seat chamber, thereby needing two additional votes from an opposition of 6 Liberals and a crossbench of 3 One Nation MLC's, 2 Greens MLC's and Sarah Game, in order to pass legislation.
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 was conducted by the Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA), an independent body answerable to Parliament, and was held on the same day as the South Australian First Nations Voice election.
Background Previous election
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.
Composition of Parliament
In April 2022, Liberal MP and former deputy premier 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. 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.
In January 2023, Liberal MLC Stephen Wade resigned from the Legislative Council. His position was filled by Ben Hood in March 2023. 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. In October 2023, Labor MLC Irene Pnevmatikos resigned after being re-diagnosed with kidney cancer. Her vacancy was filled by Mira El Dannawi. 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.
In February 2024, former premier Steven Marshall resigned from Parliament and retired from politics, triggering a by-election in his seat of Dunstan. 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. 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. 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. 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. The ensuing by-election in his seat of Black was won by Labor's Alex Dighton, who received a 12.6 per cent swing towards him. 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.
In January 2025, Liberal MLC Jing Lee quit the party to sit as an independent. In May 2025, MLC Tammy Franks quit the Greens to sit as an independent, due to internal tensions within the party. 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. She later formed her own party, Fair Go for Australians, in July. In August 2025, independent MLC Frank Pangallo joined the Liberal Party to run as their candidate for Waite in the state election. 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. Speaker of the House Leon Bignell rejoined the Labor Party on 5 September 2025.
Pre-election standings and pendulum
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
Electoral system 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.
2024 redistribution
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.
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.
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".
Submissions were 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.
Election date