This is a list of appointments to the South Australian Legislative Council, caused by the resignation or death of an incumbent member. A departure creates a casual vacancy which is filled by a candidate of the same affiliation in a joint sitting of the Parliament of South Australia. The constitution states that if the previous sitting Legislative Council member was at the time of his/her election the representative of a particular political party, that party should nominate a replacement from amongst its own members.^[1]

Until the 1975 election, casual vacancies in the Legislative Council, like the House of Assembly, were also filled at South Australian Legislative Council by-elections. Amendments to the South Australian Constitution and Electoral Acts saw the whole state become a single electorate for the Legislative Council and gave, in line with the Australian Senate, an assembly of members of both Houses of Parliament the right to meet to choose a replacement member.^[1]

There have been 29 appointments since 1975: thirteen Labor, ten Liberal, three Democrats, one Family First, one Australian Greens and one independent.^[1]

• List of South Australian Legislative Council by-elections
• List of South Australian state by-elections

^a Though Finnigan sat as an independent from 2011, he was elected as a Labor candidate at the 2010 election, as such the joint sitting duly endorsed a Labor appointment.