The state government on Thursday finalised the timeline for the polls, along with the boundaries for the various regions.

The SA process, established after legislation passed parliament in March, provides for six regions across the state.

Five of those regions – Far North, Flinders and Upper North, Riverland and South East, West and West Coast, and Yorke and Mid-North – will elect seven members.

The central region, which includes Adelaide, will elect 11 members, reflecting the higher Indigenous population.

Only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will be eligible to stand for those positions and cast a vote in the elections on September 9, it was announced today.

Nominations open on July 17.

Two members from each region will then be chosen to make up the smaller group, which will speak directly to the SA parliament.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher said after the passage of the legislation, work was well under way to give Indigenous South Australians the voice they richly deserved.

“If this landmark initiative is to succeed and make a difference in the lives of our First Nations people, we will need strong leaders to come forward to make their voices heard,” he said.

SA Commissioner for First Nations Voice Dale Agius said he had spoken to many people who planned to put their names forward.

Agius encouraged all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in South Australia to ensure their details were up to date with the Electoral Commission so they could be involved in September’s elections.

-AAP