Cite this report: Wawryk, A., Castles, M., De Leiuen, C., Doherty, M., Leadbeter, P., Smith, M., & Soebarto, V. (2026). North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment: Law and policy brief. Adelaide University. Executive Summary

The purpose of this Brief is to outline the key issues arising out of the South Australian Government’s approach to redeveloping the North Adelaide Public Golf Course, located in the iconic Adelaide Park Lands.

Development activities in South Australia are covered by a range of legislative instruments that will often interact depending on the nature of the development. For the North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment, the South Australian Government introduced a specific Act – the North Adelaide Public Golf Course Act 2025 (SA) – to exclude or modify the operation of nearly all planning, environmental and other legislation. This approach removed the operation of various legislative protections that would otherwise apply to the redevelopment, including community rights of participation and consultation.

Community concern has focused on the planned removal of 600 mature trees from the area known as Possum Park to facilitate fairway construction. As of 31 July 2026, 400 of those trees have been removed, with a further 185 subject to injunctive relief in the Federal Court. Additional trees in the Park Lands are planned to be removed for a golf driving range and a Moto GP racetrack. Other concerns include the potential impacts of the redevelopment on the National Heritage values of the Park Lands, and therefore whether the redevelopment should have been referred to the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth); and the impacts of the redevelopment on the culture and heritage of First Nations peoples.

The question of public engagement has become a key focus of public complaint. There have been ongoing protests by the public, particularly in relation to tree removal, and there is growing public concern that assertions made by the government in relation to the impacts of the redevelopment, and assurances that appropriate matters have been considered and protections applied, are not supported by publicly available information, including expert evidence. The key aspects of these issues and relations to legislative instruments are addressed in this Brief.

A range of legal and non-legal public concerns have arisen in relation to the North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment in the Adelaide Park Lands, including ecological, biodiversity, climate health and resilience, and human wellbeing needs. A development of this significance, with high public interest, in a type of protected area which is a sensitive location, calls for meaningful and transparent engagement with the diverse interested stakeholders. This includes the release of expert evidence regarding the potential impacts of the redevelopment on the environment, culture and heritage, and the opportunity for the public to make submissions based on best-available information.