Officially the Chairman of Committees but also known informally known as the Deputy Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly is the deputy presiding officer of the South Australian House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of South Australia with the Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly being the senior presiding officer of that chamber.

The Chairman of Committees and Deputy Speaker is elected by the Members of the House of Assembly to preside when the House forms itself into a Committee of the Whole of the membership of the House to consider Bills, or during a period where the Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly is absent in the chamber.

The current Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees is Labor MP Zoe Bettison who was elected following the 2026 South Australian state election and the unsuccessful re-election of then-incumbent Deputy Speaker, Tony Piccolo.

List of deputy speakers Prior to the election of the first Deputy Speaker in 1875, the functions of Chairman of Committees was undertaken by the Speaker.

Order Member Party Term commence Term end Term in office 1 John Carr Pre-party system 12 May 1875 22 June 1878 2 William Townsend Pre-party system 22 June 1878 31 October 1882 3 Luke Furner Pre-party system 31 October 1882 5 June 1884 4 Ebenezer Ward Pre-party system 5 June 1884 5 June 1890 5 Alfred Catt Liberal Country League 5 June 1890 20 July 1905 6 Ephraim Henry Coombe Liberal and Democratic Union 20 July 1905 27 July 1909 7 Alexander McDonald National Defence League 20 July 1909 2 June 1910 8 Harry Jackson Labor 2 June 1910 17 November 1911 9 John Newland Labor 17 November 1911 (acting)21 November 1911 (elected) 19 March 1912 10 Samuel Bruce Rudall Liberal Country League 19 March 1912 8 July 1915 11 Henry Chesson Labor (until 1917) National Party (from 1917) 8 July 1915 25 July 1918 12 George Richards Laffer Liberal Country League 25 July 1918 8 April 1920 (resigned) 13 William Angus Liberal Country League 29 July 1920 21 July 1921 14 Vernon Gordon Petherick Liberal Country League 21 July 1921 24 July 1924 15 Robert Stanley Richards Labor 24 July 1924 17 May 1927 16 Robert Dove Nicholls Liberal Country League 17 May 1927 27 May 1930 17 Frank Clement Staniford Labor 27 May 1930 12 February 1933 (resigned) 18 Henry Burgess Crosby Liberal Country League 6 July 1933 19 May 1938 19 Reginald John Rudall Liberal Country League 19 May 1938 5 November 1939 (resigned) 20 Henry Stephen Dunks Liberal Country League 8 November 1939 22 March 1955 (died in office) 21 Berthold Teusner Liberal Country League 19 May 1955 8 May 1956 22 Colin Rosslyn Dunnage Liberal Country League 8 May 1956 12 April 1962 23 Berthold Teusner Liberal Country League 12 April 1962 13 May 1965 24 Samuel James Lawn Labor 13 May 1965 16 April 1968 25 Berthold Teusner Liberal Country League 16 April 1968 14 July 1970 26 Samuel James Lawn Labor 14 July 1970 25 May 1971 (died in office) 27 John Richard Ryan Labor 13 July 1971 19 June 1973 28 Allan Burdon Labor 19 June 1973 5 August 1975 29 Gil Langley Labor 5 August 1975 6 October 1977 30 Gavin Francis Keneally Labor 6 October 1977 11 October 1979 31 Graham Gunn Liberal 11 October 1979 8 December 1982 32 Maxwell John Brown Labor 8 December 1982 11 February 1986 33 Donald Mervyn Ferguson Labor 11 February 1986 8 February 1990 34 Martyn John Evans Labor 8 February 1990 7 October 1992 (resigned) 35 Donald Mervyn Ferguson Labor 7 October 1992 10 February 1994 36 Harold Allison Liberal 10 February 1994 2 December 1997 37 David Wotton Liberal 2 December 1997 5 March 2002 38 Robert Bruce Such Independent 5 March 2002 4 April 2005 (resigned) 39 Jack Snelling Labor 4 April 2005 27 April 2006 40 Gay Thompson Labor 27 April 2006 6 May 2010 41 Chloe Fox Labor 6 May 2010 21 October 2011 (resigned) 42 Tony Piccolo Labor 8 November 2011 21 January 2013 (resigned) 43 Frances Bedford Labor (until 27 March 2017) Independent (from 27 March 2017) 6 May 2014 3 May 2018 44 Peter Treloar Liberal 3 May 2018 3 May 2022 45 Tony Piccolo Labor 3 May 2022 21 March 2026(not re-elected) (Two term total 5 years, 31 days) 46 Zoe Bettison Labor 5 May 2026 incumbent

References

External links Speakers of the House of Assembly. Parliament of South Australia. Officers of the Parliament. Parliament of South Australia.