Ratepayers lose, Australia Day events win in city council budget
Australia Day Council funding and an architectural prize have been reinstated in the Adelaide City Council budget, but ratepayers and businesses still object to new minimum rates. Here’s our list of winners and losers.
Winner: Australia Day Council of SA
The Adelaide City Council will give the Australia Day Council $80,000 more than originally budgeted after being warned the cut would axe a First Nations-led event.
Australia Day Council of South Australia (ADCSA) CEO Jan Chorley wrote to the council seeking a full $182,000, rather than the $100,000 ADCSA was originally allocated in the draft 2025-26 budget.
The First Nations-led smoking ceremony held on January 26, Mourning in the Morning, was singled out in a funding bid from the ADCSA CEO Jan Chorley.
Chorley wrote that Mourning in the Morning “may be cancelled” without full support from the City of Adelaide because “it is a stand-alone program that if cancelled will have little or no impact on the rest of the program”.
Mourning in the Morning engages First Nations performers and speakers, and is run in consultation with Kaurna elders to offer awareness of First Nations culture to the wider community.
Without council funding, the program would not meet the Adelaide City Council’s Reconciliation Action Plan objectives, Chorley’s letter pointed out.
Adelaide City Council CEO Michael Sedgman told councillors at Tuesday night’s meeting that $80,000 will be progressed from the 2024-25 budget, as well as the $100,000 allocated in this year’s budget, to make up the funds.
ADCSA accepted this offer and is finalising its event planning for January 2026.
This follows multiple organisations writing to the council’s budget consultation in favour of the ADCSA funding, including board members, Access2Place Housing, Community Bridging Services, Community Business Bureau, Multicultural Communities Council of ASA, and the Pakistani Australian Association of South Australia.
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Loser: Micro businesses and single car park owners
In its public consultation, the council received a majority of feedback against setting a minimum rate of $600, which would affect about 230 smaller offices, some storage areas and commercial car park assessments.
Owners of Pirie Street’s Epworth Building – which rents offices from just 16 square metres, tailored to the needs of start-ups and sole traders – said the minimum rate would “significantly affect the viability and affordability of our micro offices”.
“We are now seriously considering merging some spaces to avoid being penalised for offering smaller, more flexible options,” the Epworth Building owners wrote in a submission.
“We believe the proposed rate structure is at odds with Council’s broader goals of attracting and retaining new businesses in the CBD.”
The council received several submissions from people who own city parking spaces, or residents with car parks on separate titles to their properties.
One ratepayer submitted to the council that his single car park in Grenfell Street costs $192 in rates and “a $600 charge would be an increase of 212 per cent” which is “ludicrous, and unjustifiable”.
Another submitter said they were in favour of the move because many affected properties by the minimum rate are parking spaces.
“I am strongly in favour of higher rates on such properties to help make the city less car-centric,” she wrote.
One submission suggested that three car parks listed in North Adelaide could be combined into one ownership, to make the fee more manageable than $600 per park.
Deputy Lord Mayor Phillip Martin said at Tuesday’s council meeting that the council administration has been tasked with looking into possible exemptions and coming back to the council with circumstances where the minimum rate won’t apply.
“Instead of spreading fear and anxiety about this budget, I’m here to say that we are doing our best, we are listening, we are listening to our ratepayers and responding to them,” Martin said.
Loser: Hospitality businesses with parklets or outdoor dining
Calls for a fairer rating system for outdoor dining and parklets have increased since the council removed the parklet from Pirie Street restaurant Jack and Jill’s earlier in June. Photos: CityMag.
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About 17 per cent of responses to the council budget were about fees and charges, mostly outdoor dining and parklet fees.
Councillor Mary Couros asked if, since the CEO was able to allocate funds to the Australia Day Council, what would be done to support hospitality businesses.
“Will the CEO take on board the outcry of the outdoor dining fees, and the parklets and the cost of doing business in the City of Adelaide affecting our business, that was very strong in the consultation,” she said.
CEO Michael Sedgman said that unlike budget management, which sponsorships fall under, parklet fees are a council decision and he has “no discretion” to change the fees and charges the council have already approved.
The current rate for a parklet, an area where city businesses have converted paid parking spaces or road space into outdoor dining areas, is $165 per square metre. The cost of footpath dining, rather than the road, is set at $49.30 per square metre.
Winner: Australian Institute of Architects
The 2024 City of Adelaide Prize winner was 60 King William Street. Photo: Cox Architecture
The City of Adelaide Prize, an award for projects that add to the quality of the city’s built urban environment, had its $30,000 funding reinstated, also using funds from the 2024-25 budget.
The council initially did not budget for the prize in 2025-26.
The Australian Institute of Architects, who manage and administers the Prize, said the $30,000 budget is “very modest” and has remained unchanged in the past 10 years in its bid for more funding.
Winner: Park lands buildings
Photos of dilapidated park lands facilities shown to councillors in 2023. Picture: City of Adelaide
About 11 per cent of the council’s budget consultation feedback concerned a reduction in funding for park lands, which Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said was a “misunderstanding”.
The Adelaide City Council intends to allocate $25.55 million for park lands maintenance in its 2025-26 budget, which is a $2.66 million increase on the 2024-25 budget.
1.5 per cent of rates revenue is allocated to upgrade community buildings in the park lands, following reports that sporting clubs, particularly women and children players, are disadvantaged by the quality of facilities.
“We are committed to upgrading park lands buildings, ensuring that sporting clubs and our community have the facilities they need now and for future generations,” Lomax-Smith said.
Feedback from the Adelaide Park Lands Association included concerns about the size of new buildings and expansions of building footprint on the park lands and a lack of progress on returning Helen Mayo Park to park lands.
