Salvation Army's first Australian corps started in Adelaide in the 1880s by John Gore and Edward Saunders

The Salvation Army Band outside the corps' headquarters, the People's Palace (formerly the German Club) in Pirie Street, Adelaide, in 1890.
Image courtesy State Library of South Australia

Australia's first official Salvation Army Corps started its moral and welfare crusade in Adelaide in the 1880s.

John Gore and Edward Saunders were both converts of the early Christian Mission. They met in Adelaide and decided to form a Salvation Army Corps.

Gore and Saunders held a street meeting in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens on September 5, 1880. Gore's parting invitation to those listening reflected Booth’s philosophical bent towards Christian ministry: “If there is any man here who hasn't had a decent meal today, let him come home to tea with me.”

Because there were no Salvation Army Officers in Australia, John Gore became temporary leader. Once established, Gore and Saunders appealed to General William Booth in London to send out an officer.

Captain Thomas Sutherland and his wife Adelaide were despatched on the S.S. Aconcagua, arriving at Adelaide in February 1881. The new officers arrived wearing the first Salvation Army uniforms seen in Australia. Thomas wore a scarlet jacket (ex-British army), navy-blue trousers and spike-topped white helmet, and Adelaide wore a princess robe-style dress with a small bonnet. They brought with them 12 uniforms, and were met by 68 converts and Army followers.

Within three years, 32 officers were commissioned and 12 corps formed, and on the third anniversary 3,600 soldiers mustered for the grand celebrations. The early Salvos found fertile ground for their work around Hindley and Waymouth streets, where prostitution had always thrived in the colony.

In 1882, Major James Baker and his wife Alice were sent from London to extend and establish the Salvation Army's work “in all the colonies of the Southern Seas”. Intending to disembark at the Port of Adelaide, the Barkers were forced on to Williamstown, Victoria, by a wharf strike. Friends of the Salvation Army took them into Melbourne, where they decided to begin work. 

General William Booth visited Adelaide in 1905.

The Salvation Army remained firmly based in the Adelaide city centre in Pirie Street, with its City Salvos Church and many programs – including City Kids, City Youth, City Woman and Flourish –  engaging families and individuals through to the 21st Century. 

Its support services included emergency relief, financial counselling and budget services, and general counselling.

The Do Unto Others program for the homeless, vulnerable and marginalised from 5-10pm offers full table service, a hot meal, tea and coffee, care and conversation, with entertainment such as a quiz night, karaoke or a board game.

From 2014, the Market Place, on the first Friday of every month, offered access to fresh produce and baked goods to the needy, with support from agencies such as Foodbank and Second Bite. The Salvos café was part of overcoming the problem of social isolation.