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rules football is the most popular sport in South Australia.
The state has the highest participation rate of people
taking part in Australian Football, with over 2.2% of
the population aged 18 years and over participating in
the sport [7]. South Australia fields 2 teams, the Adelaide
Crows and Port Adelaide Power in the Australian Football
League national competition. The Adelaide Crows have a
membership base of 50,000 [8], higher than any of the
other 15 teams in the competition. Both teams regularly
draw large crowds. The South Australian National Football
League, which owns the dedicated Australian Football stadium
AAMI Stadium, is a popular local league comprising nine
teams. Cricket is also a popular sport in the state. South
Australia's soccer team in the new A-League is Adelaide
United. Basketball also has a big following in South Australia
with the Adelaide 36ers playing out an 8,000 seat stadium
in Findon and winning 4 championships in the last 20 years
in the National Basketball League. South Australia also
has a cricket team, the Southern Redbacks, who play at
Adelaide Oval in North Adelaide during the summer; however
they have not won a title since 1996. The Redbacks currently
have four players who hold a contract with Cricket Australia.
Education
is compulsory for all children until the age of 16, however,
the majority of students stay on to complete their South
Australian Certificate of Education (SACE). School education
is the responsibility of the South Australian government,
but the public and private education systems are funded
jointly by it and the Commonwealth Government. The South
Australian Government provides 89 percent of the total
Government funding while the Commonwealth contributes
11 percent. 58 percent of Commonwealth funding goes to
non-government schools
From January 1, 2009, the school leaving
age will be raised to 17.
There are three universities in South
Australia: University of Adelaide, Flinders University
and the University of South Australia. All are based in
Adelaide, although the University of South Australia also
has campuses in Whyalla and Mount Gambier. [5] Carnegie
Mellon University "Entertainment Technology Center"
has a campus in Adelaide.
Tertiary vocational education
is provided by TAFE South Australia colleges throughout
the state.
The form of the Government of South
Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates
from 1856, although it has been amended many times since
then. Since 1901 South Australia has been a state of the
Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australian Constitution
regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth.
Under the Australian Constitution, South
Australia ceded certain legislative and judicial powers
to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence
in all other areas. In practice, however, the independence
of the Australian states has been greatly eroded by the
increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth.
South Australia is governed according
to the principles of the Westminister system, a form of
parliamentary government based on the model of the United
Kingdom. Legislative power rests with the Parliament of
South Australia, which consists of the Crown, represented
by the Governor of South Australia, and the two Houses,
the South Australian Legislative Council and the South
Australian House of Assembly, with legislative elections
held every four years.
Executive power rests formally with
the Executive Council, which consists of the Governor
and senior ministers. In practice executive power is exercised
by the Premier of South Australia and the Cabinet, who
are appointed by the Governor, but who hold office by
virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority
of members of the House of Assembly.
Judicial power is exercised by
the Supreme Court of South Australia and a system of subordinate
courts, but the High Court of Australia and other federal
courts have overriding jurisdiction on matters which fall
under the ambit of the Australian Constitution.
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