The 'Gazette' a detailed record of the South Australian government proceedings, decisions and activity since 1836
The South Australian Government Gazette remained a continuing record of government decisions and activity into the 21st Century from 1836 when it was printed on a Stanhope press (see inset) brought with the first fleet of European settlers. The gazette became part of the role of the government printing office at its peak in the 20th Century when it was based from the 1880s to the 1970s on King William Roard, Adelaide city, behind parliamnet house.
Main images courtesy State Library of South Australia; also History Trust of South Australia and South Australian government
The South Australian Government Gazette remained a continuum from 1836 into the 21st Century as a regular record of proceedings, decisions and activities by the state government and local government authorities.
The gazette carried these information categories on government activities and decisions:
- Governor’s instruments: Appointments, assented and amended laws
- Rules of court: Changes and amendments to Court rules
- State government instruments: Departmental and statutory information
- Local government instruments: News of cities and district councils
- Public notices: Business and individual advertisements
The first gazette was published in London in June 1836 before European settlement of South Australia by Robert Thomas and George Stevenson, printers and proprietors of the South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register, combing the gazette with a newspaper. Thomas and Stevenson took a Stanhope press, brought ashore to Adelaide’s Holdfast Bay in 1836 from the Africaine. Installed in a tent at Glenelg, it printed the first 100 copies of the proclamation of South Australia. Thomas lost the government printing contract in 1840 for criticising the action on governor George Gawler.
The first government printing office was formed in 1849 in Victoria Square, Adelaide city. The office grew to have 310 staff in the 20th Century before its role was diluted by work being outsourced and government departments having their own printing capabilities. In the 21st Century, the gazette was published by the production and online services team under the state government's infrastructure and transport department. It was issued by authority of the South Australian government printer, a continuing role that was gazetted in 2023 to be taken on by Tasca Anne Foresto.
The gazette was released each Thursday, excluding the last week of December, on its website and emailed or printed for subscribers. In the case of a public holiday or when members of the South Australian executive council were scheduled to visit country regions, the weekly gazette might be published on a different day. Supplementary gazettes were generated when information was urgently needed.
Publication of The South Australian Government Gazette signified the date that a notice entered the public domain and became legally binding. The gazette remained a valuable historical source describing events such as the first government land sales and the founding of schools, businesses, churches and self government.
