It is time for a serious review of the Adelaide City Council
For too long, the council has acted as a barrier to progress in our capital rather than a facilitator of it, argues Bruce Djite.
The City of Adelaide has long held a unique and influential position in South Australia’s civic and political life. But in 2025, it’s time to acknowledge what many residents, businesses, and even state officials have been whispering for years: the Adelaide City Council is no longer fit for purpose in its current form.
A comprehensive review – and potentially a major overhaul – of the Council is urgently needed. The state government must step in and explore significant changes to how the heart of our capital is governed.
The Council’s challenges are not simply about individual councillors or specific decisions. It’s systemic.
The Adelaide City Council suffers from structural dysfunction, an identity crisis, and a lack of accountability. It operates more like a suburban municipal body than the engine room of a thriving capital.
The proposed state government development of the North Adelaide golf course should catalyse a broader conversation about the governance of our capital city.
For too long, the Council has acted as a barrier to progress rather than a facilitator of it.
The pattern is clear: development projects are stalled or shut down, uncertainty and development risks are heightened, and long-term planning is sacrificed for short-term ideology. The Adelaide City Council is a capital city, and it must be treated – and governed – as such.
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Consider the long-running saga that surrounded the Adelaide Football Club’s proposed headquarters in the park lands.
This was a project that would have delivered community facilities, brought life and investment into underutilised areas, and provided public access to even more open green space. But what did the Council do? They dragged their feet, amplified fringe opposition, and ultimately scuttled a plan that had broad public support and aligned with the state government’s vision for a more inclusive and active park lands strategy.
The Crows’ leadership and membership would be horrified of the cost escalation in the tens of millions, clearly an outcome the state government is seeking to avoid in delivering LIV Golf in the city.
The deeper structural problem is that the City of Adelaide simply doesn’t have the economic base to properly fund or maintain the expansive park lands it claims to protect.
With one of the lowest residential ratepayer bases of any major council in the country, the City of Adelaide is overly reliant on commercial property rates, fees and charges, which make up close to 80 per cent of revenue.
Yet, paradoxically, the Council resists the kind of residential development that would strengthen its revenue base and ensure it can fund a sustainable future for green spaces.
All 7.6 million square metres of park lands are a state and national treasure – but they’re also a responsibility.
The Premier himself said that “there are western parts of the park lands that have been left to rack and ruin, used as a dump… a derelict wasteland”.
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Without a stronger residential rate base, the Council’s ability to care for this vast area is inherently compromised. And yet, when funding gaps arise, the Council’s instinct is to say “no” to anything new, whether it be sports infrastructure, community hubs, residential or commercial developments.
What is telling is that the South Australian state government considers development in the City of Adelaide so precarious that it has introduced legislation to bypass the uncertainty and risk its Council presents.
Unfortunately, the private sector does not have the same bypassing powers that the government has proposed in parliament.
It is high time the state government consider not only protecting itself by de-risking its own developments, but also those of the private sector. Increasing certainty and accelerating approvals in the City of Adelaide should not only be applicable to the government of the day.
Premier Peter Malinauskas and his government have shown a willingness to make bold reforms in other sectors. This is the moment to bring that same leadership to the governance of the City of Adelaide.
A full-scale review should examine whether the current boundaries, governance structure and responsibilities of the Council are fit-for-purpose.
Could a state-appointed commission handle budget and rates setting, development applications and processes within the city? Should responsibility for the park lands be transferred to a new state-run trust with proper funding and long-term vision? Is it time to split the city into precincts with different governance models? All these options should be on the table.
Cities are not museums that are to be preserved at all costs; they are forever changing, dynamic, vibrant and inclusive places.
South Australia deserves a capital city that not only functions, but can grow, adapt and deliver.
The Adelaide City Council is holding the state back. The state government must act – not with minor reforms, rushed legislation or temporary fixes – but with a clear-eyed willingness to reimagine how our capital is governed.
The time for innovative change is well overdue.
