RAA of South Australia expands services but giving roadside help to members stays central since starting in 1903

The RAA's Adelaide city branch has returned to its historical home in Hindmarsh Square.

The Royal Automobile Association (RAA) of South Australia responded to more than 600,000 calls for emergency roadside help each year into the 21st Century, with more than 90% of problems fixed at the roadside.

Emergency roadside help remained the core of ever-expanding RAA services. The early 1950s saw a massive increase in car ownership and spiralling RAA membership, soaring past 75,000.

Road service changed with the familiar motorcycle outfits replaced by vans. Guides became patrols and used two-way radio, operating 24 hours a day out of new premises in North Adelaide.

As motoring and membership kept growing, the RAA moved into larger headquarters, built technical premises, began office and vehicle inspection centres in the suburbs, set up staffed offices in major country areas and started its march into the computer age. In the 1980s, the mapping department moved from pen-and-ink drawing to scribing and on to computer mapping.

RAA was the first motoring organisation in the world with a battery replacement service and Australia’s first to produce a computer CD with touring information.
Such innovations built on established services: 24-hour emergency breakdown, vehicle inspection, motoring advocacy, road safety, legal services, technical advice, travel services, security, tour planning, accommodation booking and insurance.

Since RAA’s 100th anniversary in 2003, it continued to improve and modernise, with new headquarters at Mile End. In 2009, the city branch returned to its historical and sentimental home in Hindmarsh Square.