South Australia has long been a catalyst for change in the journey toward LGBTIQA+ equality, inclusion, and visibility.
From pioneering legal reforms to grassroots activism that reshaped public discourse, the state’s history is rich with moments of courage, resilience, and progress.
This timeline celebrates the milestones—both landmark victories and quiet revolutions—that have shaped the lived experiences of LGBTIQA+ communities across generations. As we reflect on these pivotal events, we honour the trailblazers who dared to imagine a more just and vibrant future for all.
1972
10 May 1972
Dr George Duncan, Adelaide University law lecturer, drowns in the River Torrens. Three South Australian vice squad police officers were implicated in his death.
July 1972
Hon Murray Hill MLC of the Liberal Country League introduces a private members bill to decriminalise homosexuality, the first serious attempt to do so in Australia.
CAMP South Australia
A South Australian branch of Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) were actively advocating for law reform including the repeal of laws which made it illegal for men to have sex with other men. (Centre of Democracy and Australian Queer Archives (AQuA)).
1973
Legal defence to homosexual offences introduced for cases where conduct occurred in private among men over the age of 21.
The Proud Parade, Adelaide’s first gay pride march, was held on Saturday 15 September 1973.
1974
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people banned from serving in the Australian Defence Force.
1975
27 August 1975
South Australia became the first Australian state to fully decriminalise homosexual acts, abolishing offences of buggery, gross indecency and soliciting, and creating an equal age of consent for homo- and hetero- sexual acts
2 October 1975
Laws decriminalising homosexual acts take effect.
1976
11 March 1976
Formation of South Australia’s Gay Counselling Service (GCS) at a meeting at the Gouger Gay Men’s Centre by three psychologists and activist, Peter Migalka. Later known as the Gay and Lesbian Community Service, GLCS provided counselling services and ran a centre at 130 Carrington Street.
1979
Police files on homosexuals are burned in the Centennial Park crematorium.
Australia legalised sterilization, which de facto meant legalising sex reassignment surgery.
1984
Equal Opportunity Act (SA) makes discrimination against a person’s sexuality illegal.
16 November 1984
Australia introduced a 5-year ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). The ban was introduced following the deaths three babies in Queensland after a blood donation from a gay man with HIV.
1986
Formation of the AIDS Council of South Australia (ACSA), promoting greater awareness of HIV and AIDS.
1988
15 November 1988
Sexual Reassignment Act (SA) passed in South Australia providing for legal gender recognition after surgery.
1989
21 June 1989
Lesbian and Gay Community Action (LGCA) formed at a community meeting of 100 people at the Box Factory in response to reports to GLCS of police harassment of gay men. The group received an Achievement Award from the Commissioner for Equal Opportunity in 1993 and wound up its activities in 1997.
First annual LGBTIQ Picnic in the Park is held.
1994
24 November 1994
Lesbian, gay and bisexual permitted to serve in the Australian Defence Force. Transgender people continue to be banned from service.
1995
Formation of the support service Bfriend for people wondering about their sexuality or newly identifying as same sex attracted.
1997
First annual Feast Festival, Adelaide’s Queer Cultural Festival.
1990
1 August 1990
Equal Opportunity Act (SA) amended to add sexuality, including “transsexuality”, as a characteristic protected from discrimination. Trans people would later be redefined under chosen gender in 2009 and gender identity in 2016.
1991
Gender affirming medical treatments made available
2000
Australia reduced the deferral period for blood donations from men who have sex with men from 5 years to 1 year.
2003
Second Pride March is held 30 years after the 1973 March and becomes an annual event
2004
Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) amended to define marriage as between a man and woman.
2005
Community leader Ian Purcell is awarded the Order of Australia for “service to the community, particularly gay and lesbian people through advocacy, education, law reform and support for community events”.
2006
7 December 2006
Legislative amendments introduced by Attorney-General Michael Atkinson passed giving equal rights to same-sex couples and other couples living in non-sexual domestic relationships. Limitations in relation to accessing IVF, parenting and adoption remained in place.
2007
SA Police establishes a Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officer Network.
2009
Federal law recognises same-sex couples as de facto relationships.
2010
13 September 2010
Transgender people permitted to serve in the Australian Defence Force
2011
15 September 2011
Legal definition of intersex people under Federal Law.
15 December 2011
Laws took effect providing partial recognition of lesbian co-mothers in same-sex relationships and their children.
2013
The Spent Convictions Act (SA) allows pre-1973 homosexual offences to be expunged.
Gay Times Are Here Again exhibition celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 1973 Adelaide Gay Pride Week. The exhibition contained a selection of photographs from the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives showcasing Adelaide’s first Gay Pride Week events in 1973, hosted by the State Library of South Australia. You can view photographs from the exhibition launch here.
2015
September 2015
A South Australian Law Reform Institute (SALRI) report identified over 140 South Australian acts and regulations which discriminated (or potentially discriminated) on the grounds of sexual orientation, sex, gender identity and intersex status.
2016
8 September 2016
In response to the 2015 SALRI report, the Statutes Amendment (Gender Identity and Equity) Act (SA) passed amending language used throughout South Australian law to remove gender bias, ensure that gender identity and intersex characteristics are captured in state legislation, and remove language in legislation that could have discriminated against people based on their relationship status.
The SA Government and City of Adelaide fund the Feast Festival Arts and Cultural Hub.
City of Adelaide installs Pride Walk in recognition of the LGBTIQ community’s contribution to cultural diversity.
23 September 2016
Family Relationships (Parentage Presumptions) Amendment Bill 2015 took effect abolishing the 3-year relationship requirement for parentage recognition.
6 November 2016
Community leader Ian Purcell AM dies following a battle with liver cancer, two weeks after the opening of the City of Adelaide Pride Walk.
2017
January 2017
All South Australian public schools must allow students to use the toilets of the gender they identify with, call students by their preferred name and allow students to wear the uniform of the gender they identify with. (Source: ABC News)
17 February 2017
Amendments to Adoption Act 1988 (SA) enable same-sex couples to adopt. (Source:
21 March 2017
Same-sex couples granted equal access to assisted reproductive technology and altruistic surrogacy (Human Rights Law Centre).
23 May 2017
Gender identification laws are updated to remove the requirement for transgender people to undergo sex reassignment surgery before legally changing their gender identification. Instead, people must provide a statement from a medical professional or a psychologist certifying that they underwent the appropriate treatment to change their legal gender.
People can also request an X gender marker on their identity documents.
November to December 2017
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Australia after a nation-wide non-binding voluntary postal survey was held, also known as a plebiscite, asking Australians if same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
2021
31 January 2021
Australia reduced the deferral period for men who have sex with men donating blood to 3-months.
1 April 2021
South Australia became the last state to repeal the “gay panic” defence – a legal defence used by a heterosexual person charged with a violent crime against an LGBTQIA+ person who could claim it was justified because they were responding to an unwanted sexual advance. (Source: Statutes Amendment (Abolition of Defence of Provocation and Related Matters) Act 2020)
27 October 2021
Adelaide United A-League soccer player Josh Cavallo came out as gay, the first top-flight male professional footballer in the world to do so.
25 November 2021
Courts must consider whether a crime was motivated by hate or prejudice when sentencing (Source: Sentencing (Hate Crimes) Amendment Act 2021).
2023
3 June 2023
Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved a submission from Australian Red Cross Lifeblood calling to remove most sexual activity ineligibility criteria for plasma donors.
2024
December 2024
Australian Bureau of Statistics releases first estimates of LGBTIQ populations.
2025
1 April 2025
Laws banning conversion practices take effect.