Buying gold in South Australia
Gold has one price in Australian dollars across Australia, and investment gold (gold of at least 99.5% fineness, in bars, wafers or bullion coins) carries no GST anywhere. What differs in South Australia is how second-hand gold buyers are licensed and how long they must hold what they buy, and the rules for fossicking.
Gold has one national spot price in Australian dollars: the prices on this page are the same as on the gold price in Australia page. What differs in South Australia is how dealers are regulated and other local rules, explained below.
Selling gold or jewellery to a dealer in South Australia
- Licence: No licence: a person must register with (give written notice to) the Commissioner of Police at least one month before starting as a second-hand dealer, pawnbroker or market operator (s 7). SAPOL runs criminal history checks, and changes of details must be notified within 14 days. People with dishonesty convictions can be disqualified.
- Hold period: 10 days. Goods must be kept unaltered at the place of business for at least 10 days before the dealer alters them or parts with them (s 10(1)). They can be sold after 3 days if the buyer's full name and address are recorded and verified (s 10(2)), but the SA Police overview lists precious metals, jewellery, gemstones and watches as excluded from this 3-day rule, so for those the 10-day hold applies. Pawned goods are exempt from s 10; pawned goods must be held for a redemption period of at least one month.
- What the dealer records: For each item: an accurate description (type, size, colour, brand, serial number, distinguishing and ownership marks), the date bought, the seller's full name and residential address and how identity was verified (s 8). Each item must carry a unique identification code (s 9). Records may be kept by computer and must be kept for five years after the goods are sold or redeemed (s 8(8)).
- What sellers need: The seller must show government-issued photo ID showing name, address and signature (such as a driver's licence or passport), or two or more IDs, at least one government-issued, that together show name, address and signature. The dealer gets the seller's written confirmation of the details. Dealers must not buy from anyone under 16 (s 19).
- The law: Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1996 (SA) and the Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Regulations 2013 (SA). The current consolidated Act on the SA legislation site is dated 1 March 2018.
Fossicking for gold in South Australia
You do not need a licence to fossick in designated areas of South Australia. No general fossicking licence is described by the state. A ForestrySA permit (annual or daily, bought online) is needed for the Mount Crawford Forest sites. Using power-operated machinery counts as mining and needs a registered mineral claim or mining lease. All minerals in South Australia are Crown property, and fossicked minerals may not be sold or used commercially.
Where: Jupiter Creek Diggings near Echunga, and designated areas of Mount Crawford Forest (Gumeracha Goldfields and Watts Gully Diggings) with a ForestrySA permit. Private land needs the landowner's authorisation; Crown land needs consent from the Department for Environment and Water; mineral claims, mining and retention leases need the holder's approval (no permission is needed within an exploration licence). Not allowed in national parks, conservation parks, forest reserves, reservoir reserves or restricted areas; Chapel Hill at Echunga is closed for safety.
Rules: Hand-operated gear: hammer, pick, shovel, sieve, gold pan, metal detector, cradle or rocker, hand sluice box and dry blower. No mechanically operated equipment or explosives. Water-based devices are not allowed in SA Water watershed reserves in the Mount Lofty Ranges. Using a metal detector or digging inside a park reserve is an offence. At Jupiter Creek: backfill holes at once, do not dam or pollute water, no entry on total fire ban days, and no removing specimens from the heritage-listed diggings.
Check the state's current rules and any land-access permission before you go: national parks and many reserves are closed to fossicking. Compare states: gold fossicking rules across Australia.
Gold in South Australia: history
South Australia's first recorded gold came from the Victoria Mine near Castambul in 1846. Alluvial gold found near Echunga in 1852 made it the state's most productive goldfield (about 6,000 kg), and the Adelaide pound of 1852 was the first Australian gold coin. Later rushes followed at Barossa (1868), Teetulpa (1886, 5,000 miners within two months) and Tarcoola (1893). Most South Australian gold now comes from large copper-gold mines in the north: Olympic Dam (copper, gold, silver and uranium, about 560 km north of Adelaide) and Prominent Hill (about 650 km north-north-west of Adelaide). The state government also lists the Challenger, Tarcoola and White Dam gold projects among its modern mines.
- 1852 · The Adelaide pound: South Australia issued the Adelaide pound, Australia's first gold 'coin', without British approval.
More: history of gold in Australia.
GST and tax on gold in Australia
For GST, 'precious metal' means gold of at least 99.5% fineness, silver of at least 99.9% or platinum of at least 99%, in investment form (bars, wafers or bullion coins with a recognised fineness mark, traded at prices linked to spot). Other supplies of precious metal are input taxed (s 40-100), so no GST is charged on resale of investment bullion. Jewellery, numismatic and proof coins, and unmarked granules are not 'precious metal' in investment form, so normal GST rules apply.
Collectables such as jewellery and coins or medallions are subject to CGT unless bought for AUD 500 or less; capital losses on collectables can only be offset against capital gains on collectables. Individuals who hold an asset for at least 12 months can generally reduce the capital gain by 50%.
AUSTRAC rules for gold dealers
From 1 July 2026, dealers who buy or sell precious metals, stones or products for AUD 10,000 or more in physical currency or virtual assets (including linked transactions that add up to AUD 10,000) are regulated under the AML/CTF Act reforms. Dealers that will accept or pay AUD 10,000 or more in cash or virtual assets had to enrol with AUSTRAC by 1 July 2026 and need an AML/CTF programme; a streamlined customer due diligence process is available for low or medium risk individuals paying cash. Dealers can stay outside regulation by not accepting cash or virtual assets at all, or by accepting them only below AUD 10,000 per transaction and watching for linked transactions.
Tax and duty information last reviewed October 2026. Rules change — confirm with your dealer or tax authority before a large purchase.