Aboriginal Heritage Act - North Adelaide Golf Course Redevelopment

This consultation has now closed.

The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (Minister) is seeking the views of Traditional Owners and other Aboriginal parties about the proposed redevelopment of the North Adelaide Golf Course, situated in the Adelaide Park Lands and adjacent to the Karrawirra Pari (River Torrens).

Consultation has been extended and now closes on Thursday 21 August 2025.

What's being decided?

The Department of the Premier and Cabinet (Applicant) seeks to undertake ground-disturbing works to improve and expand the North Adelaide Golf Course, constructing new and expanded public facilities and a championship golf course (Project). The application area is known to contain Aboriginal sites.

The views of Traditional Owners and other Aboriginal parties will help the Minister decide whether the Applicant should be given authorisations under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 (SA) (Act) in relation to the Project.

Background

The Minister, who is responsible for the Act, has received an application for authorisations under sections 21 and 23 of the Act in relation to the Project.

Section 21 of the Act makes it an offence to excavate land for the purposes of uncovering Aboriginal sites, objects and remains (together, heritage) without the Minister’s authorisation, while section 23 of the Act makes it an offence to damage, disturb or interfere with Aboriginal heritage without the Minister’s authorisation.

As the Project will involve ground-disturbing works within the application area that may impact, or require excavation of, heritage, the Applicant has sought authorisations under sections 21 and 23 of the Act.

Updated heritage information - 30 July 2025

The Consultation Information Pack has been amended on page 13 to include a summary of a cultural heritage assessment undertaken in 2023 by heritage consultancy firm Neale Draper & Associates, in consultation with Kaurna representatives, over part of the application area. This report has recently become available to AAR. The report concludes, based on historical records and reports relevant to the area (summarised in the Consultation Information Pack), that:

“...the southern end of the North Adelaide PAR 3 golf course probably retains a substantial archaeological record of traditional Kaurna use as a large-scale camping and ceremonial precinct, with a high probability of traditional burials occurring within 1.5m depth of the natural land surface”.

Get involved

Section 13 of the Act requires the Minister to consult with relevant Traditional Owners, the State Aboriginal Heritage Committee (Committee) and any other Aboriginal people or organisations that he considers may have an interest in this matter before he may consider granting any authorisation under the Act.

If you are a Traditional Owner or an interested Aboriginal party, please read the Consultation Information Pack as well as information available on AAR’s website and consider responding to at least the following questions:

  • Should the authorisations sought by the Applicant be granted? Why or why not?
  • If the authorisations are granted, what conditions (if any) should be imposed?
  • Will the Project provide you with any direct or indirect benefits (e.g., cultural, financial or personal)?
  • Are there any other matters the Minister should consider when deciding this application?

If you are a Traditional Owner or interested Aboriginal person and wish to learn more, to lodge a submission and/or be notified once a decision in this matter has been made, you can:

See the Consultation Information Pack for further details on how to lodge a verbal or written submission. Further information can be found on AAR's website.

AAR is available to assist people to record submissions if they have any difficulty in doing so.

Consultation has been extended and now closes on Thursday 21 August 2025.

What are the next steps?

You may request that AAR keeps any cultural information in your submission confidential. AAR will facilitate these requests, where possible, in line with procedural fairness principles. Otherwise, AAR will forward your submissions in full to the Applicant for comment. Once the public consultation has closed, AAR will forward your submissions and the Applicant’s comments to the Committee, whose views will also be sought.

AAR will collate all submissions, the Applicant’s responses to them, the Committee’s advice, and its own recommendations to the Minister to make a final decision about the application.

The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (Minister) is seeking the views of Traditional Owners and other Aboriginal parties about the proposed redevelopment of the North Adelaide Golf Course, situated in the Adelaide Park Lands and adjacent to the Karrawirra Pari (River Torrens).

Consultation has been extended and now closes on Thursday 21 August 2025.

What's being decided?

The Department of the Premier and Cabinet (Applicant) seeks to undertake ground-disturbing works to improve and expand the North Adelaide Golf Course, constructing new and expanded public facilities and a championship golf course (Project). The application area is known to contain Aboriginal sites.

The views of Traditional Owners and other Aboriginal parties will help the Minister decide whether the Applicant should be given authorisations under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 (SA) (Act) in relation to the Project.

Background

The Minister, who is responsible for the Act, has received an application for authorisations under sections 21 and 23 of the Act in relation to the Project.

Section 21 of the Act makes it an offence to excavate land for the purposes of uncovering Aboriginal sites, objects and remains (together, heritage) without the Minister’s authorisation, while section 23 of the Act makes it an offence to damage, disturb or interfere with Aboriginal heritage without the Minister’s authorisation.

As the Project will involve ground-disturbing works within the application area that may impact, or require excavation of, heritage, the Applicant has sought authorisations under sections 21 and 23 of the Act.

Updated heritage information - 30 July 2025

The Consultation Information Pack has been amended on page 13 to include a summary of a cultural heritage assessment undertaken in 2023 by heritage consultancy firm Neale Draper & Associates, in consultation with Kaurna representatives, over part of the application area. This report has recently become available to AAR. The report concludes, based on historical records and reports relevant to the area (summarised in the Consultation Information Pack), that:

“...the southern end of the North Adelaide PAR 3 golf course probably retains a substantial archaeological record of traditional Kaurna use as a large-scale camping and ceremonial precinct, with a high probability of traditional burials occurring within 1.5m depth of the natural land surface”.

Get involved

Section 13 of the Act requires the Minister to consult with relevant Traditional Owners, the State Aboriginal Heritage Committee (Committee) and any other Aboriginal people or organisations that he considers may have an interest in this matter before he may consider granting any authorisation under the Act.

If you are a Traditional Owner or an interested Aboriginal party, please read the Consultation Information Pack as well as information available on AAR’s website and consider responding to at least the following questions:

  • Should the authorisations sought by the Applicant be granted? Why or why not?
  • If the authorisations are granted, what conditions (if any) should be imposed?
  • Will the Project provide you with any direct or indirect benefits (e.g., cultural, financial or personal)?
  • Are there any other matters the Minister should consider when deciding this application?

If you are a Traditional Owner or interested Aboriginal person and wish to learn more, to lodge a submission and/or be notified once a decision in this matter has been made, you can:

See the Consultation Information Pack for further details on how to lodge a verbal or written submission. Further information can be found on AAR's website.

AAR is available to assist people to record submissions if they have any difficulty in doing so.

Consultation has been extended and now closes on Thursday 21 August 2025.

What are the next steps?

You may request that AAR keeps any cultural information in your submission confidential. AAR will facilitate these requests, where possible, in line with procedural fairness principles. Otherwise, AAR will forward your submissions in full to the Applicant for comment. Once the public consultation has closed, AAR will forward your submissions and the Applicant’s comments to the Committee, whose views will also be sought.

AAR will collate all submissions, the Applicant’s responses to them, the Committee’s advice, and its own recommendations to the Minister to make a final decision about the application.