South Australian Legislative Council

Legislative Council
55th Parliament
Type
Type	Upper house of the Parliament of South Australia
History
Founded	1836; 188 years ago (1836)
Leadership
President	Terry Stephens, Liberal since 3 May 2022
Leader of the Government	Kyam Maher, Labor since 24 March 2022
Leader of the Opposition	Nicola Centofanti, Liberal since 21 April 2022
Structure
Seats	22
Political groups	Government (9)   Labor (9) Opposition (8)   Liberal (8) Crossbench (5)   Greens (2)   SA-BEST (1)   One Nation (1)   Independent (1)
Length of term	8 years
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
First election	21 February 1851 as unicameral 9 March 1857 as bicameral
Last election	19 March 2022
Next election	21 March 2026
Meeting place
Legislative Council Chamber Parliament House, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Website
SA Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.

The upper house has 22 members elected for eight-year terms by proportional representation, with 11 members facing re-election every four years. It is elected in a similar manner to its federal counterpart, the Australian Senate. Casual vacancies—where a member resigns or dies—are filled by a joint sitting of both houses, who then elect a replacement.