This is an incomplete list of notable people from Adelaide.

Prominent intellectuals, writers, artists, bands, and musicians to hail from Adelaide include:

• Dame Judith Anderson AC DBE – Rebecca, And Then There Were None; Tony and Emmy Award winner
• Elspeth Ballantyne – Prisoner
• Holly Brisley – Home and Away
• Sam Clark – Neighbours
• Kate Fischer – Sirens
• Sir Robert Helpmann CBE – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Nicholas Hope – Bad Boy Bubby
• Dichen Lachman – Neighbours, Dollhouse
• Anthony LaPaglia – Without a Trace
• Jonathan LaPaglia – Seven Days, The District
• Glenn McMillan – Wonderland, Power Rangers Ninja Storm
• John Noble – Fringe
• Ben Oxenbould – Hey Dad..!
• Teresa Palmer – December Boys, I Am Number Four
• Lois Ramsey – Road to Nhill, Home and Away
• Xavier Samuel – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
• Hugh Sheridan – Packed to the Rafters
• Sarah Snook – Succession; Golden Globe winner
• Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog; Oscar-nominated actor
• Sonia Todd – McLeod's Daughters
• Adam Tuominen – Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Underbelly: Razor, Escape from Pretoria
• Melanie Vallejo – Winners and Losers, Power Rangers Mystic Force
• Samara Weaving

• Anthony Lehmann – aka "Lehmo" Lehmann
• Richard Marsland
• Shaun Micallef
• Greig Pickhaver AM – aka "H.G. Nelson"
• Roy Rene – aka "Mo McCackie"
• Frank Woodley

• Mario Andreacchio
• David James Campbell
• Alex Frayne
• Rolf de Heer
• Scott Hicks
• Pip Karmel
• Justin Kurzel
• Anthony Maras
• Michael James Rowland
• Murali K. Thalluri
• Eddie White

• Graeme Hugo – demographer and Federation Fellow (2002)
• J. J. C. Smart – philosopher
• Hugh Stretton – historian and sociologist
• Peter Sutton – anthropologist
• Wesley Wildman – philosopher, theologian, ethicist
• Ghil'ad Zuckermann – linguist and revivalist

• Annabel Crabb – political writer and commentator
• Brady Haran OAM – independent video journalist and Internet personality
• Jenni Hogan – TV reporter and host, Emmy Award winner
• Christian Kerr – political commentator and journalist
• David Kosh – financial journalist and former presenter of Sunrise
• Bruce McAvaney OAM – sports broadcaster
• Hamish McLachlan – television sports commentator for the Seven Network
• David Penberthy – editor-in-chief of the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph

• Allday
• The Angels
• At Sunset
• Atlas Genius
• The Audreys
• Jimmy Barnes
• The Beards
• Beeb Birtles
• Bit By Bats
• David Campbell
• Wes Carr
• Julian Cochran
• Cold Chisel
• Beccy Cole
• Michael Crafter
• Delta
• Fraternity
• Funkoars
• Peter Furler
• Dave Graney
• Angie Hart
• Hilltop Hoods
• The Hot Lies
• I Killed the Prom Queen
• Jim Keays
• Paul Kelly
• Rachael Leahcar
• Lowrider
• Tkay Maidza
• The Mark of Cain
• The Masters Apprentices
• Reece Mastin
• Sarah McLeod
• Sister Janet Mead
• Rudy Nikkerud
• Orianthi Panagaris
• Redgum
• Aleesha Rome
• Guy Sebastian
• Glenn Shorrock
• Sia
• Benjamin Speed
• The Superjesus
• Swanee
• Michelle Tumes
• The Twilights
• Universum
• Virgin Black
• Wolf & Cub

• James Ashton – painter and arts educator
• Dorrit Black – modernist printmaker and painter
• Michal Dutkiewicz – comic book artist and illustrator, three-time winner of the Stanley Award
• Robert Hannaford AM – portrait artist, three-time winner of the People's Choice Award of the Archibald Prize
• Barbara Hanrahan – artist, printmaker and writer
• Sir Hans Heysen OBE – landscape painter, nine-time winner of the Wynne Prize
• Nora Heysen AM – portrait artist, first female winner of the Archibald Prize
• Ondrej Mares – sculptor and furniture maker
• Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski AM – painting, photography, film-making, theatre design, fabric design, murals, kinetic and static sculpture, stained glass, vitreous enamel murals, op-collages, computer graphics, and laser art
• Geoffrey Proud – portrait and landscape painter, sculptor, winner of the 1990 Archibald Prize, winner of the 1975 Sulman Prize
• Jeffrey Smart AO – precisionist landscape painter
• Susan Dorothea White – painter, sculptor and printmaker

• Malcolm Afford – playwright and novelist
• Guy Boothby – novelist and travel writer
• James Bradley – novelist and critic
• Brian Castro – novelist
• Nancy Cato – author
• J. M. Coetzee – novelist and essayist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
• Aidan Coleman – poet
• David Conyers – science fiction author
• Geoffrey Dutton AO – poet, author and historian, winner of the Grace Leven Prize for Poetry
• Max Fatchen AM – journalist and children's author
• Mem Fox AM – educator and children's author
• Peter Goldsworthy AM – novelist, poet and scriptwriter, winner of the Helpmann Award
• Christine Harris – children's and young adult author
• Max Harris AO – poet, critic and columnist
• Vernon Knowles – fantasy author
• Kym Lardner – children's author, illustrator, and storyteller
• Caleb Lewis – playwright
• DBC Pierre – novelist, winner of the Man Booker Prize
• Gillian Rubinstein – children's author and playwright
• Bel Schenk – poet
• Tony Shillitoe – fantasy author
• Tim Sinclair – poet and novelist
• Hugh Stretton – historian and sociologist
• Anne Summers – feminist writer and editor
• Colin Thiele AC – children's author and educator, winner of the Dromkeen medal
• David Thorne – humorist and satirist
• Russel Ward – historian and author of The Australian Legend
• Sean Williams – science fiction author
• Ben Winch – novelist
• Nan Witcomb – poet
• Laetitia Withall – poet, author and suffragette

• Rick Allert AO – accountant, company director and chairperson
• Balfours family – bakery founders
• Barr Smith family – businessmen and philanthropists
• Matt Barrie – entrepreneur, CEO Freelancer Limited
• Shaun Bonétt – property developer, entrepreneur and philanthropist
• Cooper family – brewery founders
• Thomas Elder GCMG – pastoralist, politician and philanthropist
• Gerard family – founders of Clipsal
• Haigh's Family - Chocolatiers
• Edward Hayward Kt – owner and manager of John Martins
• Sir Sidney Kidman – pastoralist, entrepreneur and landowner
• Matthew and Zbigniew Michalewicz – entrepreneurs and co-founders of SolveIT Software
• Rupert Murdoch AC – media mogul, chairperson and CEO of News Corporation
• Mary Penfold – winemaker
• John Spalvins – managing director of Adelaide Steamship Company
• Robert Stigwood – impresario, entertainment entrepreneur and film producer
• Michael Tunn – radio announcer and program director
• Gary Turner – producer, record company owner and founder of LearnToPlayMusic.com

• Julie Bishop – Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
• Sir John Langdon Bonython KCMG – member of the first Australian parliament
• Sir John Lavington Bonython – mayor and Lord Mayor of Adelaide
• Michael Bradley – mayor of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
• James Crawford – Legal academic and Judge of the International Court of Justice (2014)
• Mario Despoja – leader of the Croatian community in Australia
• Natasha Stott Despoja AM – senator and leader of the Australian Democrats
• Alexander Downer AC – Foreign Affairs Minister and Leader of the Opposition
• Alexander Downer, Sr. KBE – member of the House of Representatives and High Commissioner to London
• John Downer KCMG KC – twice Premier of South Australia
• John Finnis – Professor of Law at University College, Oxford
• Julia Gillard – prime minister and leader of the Australian Labor Party
• Janine Haines – senator and leader of the Australian Democrats
• Sir Charles Kingston – Premier of South Australia and Minister for Trade and Customs in the first Commonwealth parliament
• Dame Roma Mitchell AC DBE CVO – Australia's first female QC, first female judge, and first female Governor
• Christopher Pyne – Minister for Defence
• Catherine Helen Spence – suffragist, electoral reformer, prohibitionist, and first female political candidate in Australia
• Ian Wilson AM – member of the Australian House of Representatives and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
• Sir Keith Wilson CBE – senator and member of the Australian House of Representatives
• Penny Wong – Labor politician and Minister for Foreign Affairs
• List of mayors and lord mayors of Adelaide
• List of premiers of South Australia
• Category: Federal politicians from South Australia

World-renowned Adelaide scientists include:

• Len Beadell OAM BEM – surveyor, roadbuilder and explorer; asteroid 3161 Beadell is named after him
• William Henry Bragg OM KBE PRS – physicist, chemist and mathematician, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics
• William Lawrence Bragg CH OBE MC FRS – physicist and crystallographer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and youngest Nobel Laureate
• Rodney Brooks – roboticist, director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and founding member of the iRobot corporation
• Baron Howard Florey OM FRS FRCP – pharmacologist and pathologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Basil Stuart Hetzel AC – medical researcher who made a major contribution to combating iodine deficiency
• Cecil Madigan – geologist and meteorologist, member of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
• Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA – geologist and explorer, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
• Sir Mark Oliphant AC KBE FRS FAA – nuclear physicist, winner of the Hughes Medal and the Faraday Medal
• Enid Lucy Robertson AM – botanist, conservationist
• Reg Sprigg AO – geologist and conservationist
• George Szekeres FAA AM – mathematician, after whom the George Szekeres Medal is named
• Terence Tao FRS FAA – mathematician, winner of the Fields Medal
• Andy Thomas AO – aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut
• David Unaipon – inventor and writer, commemorated on the Australian fifty-dollar note
• Robin Warren AC – pathologist and researcher, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine
• Sir Hubert Wilkins – Antarctic aviation pioneer, Arctic explorer, ornithologist and geographer
• Col Bailey – naturalist

Internationally and nationally recognised sports people from Adelaide include:

• Chris Sperou – thirteen-time National Aerobatics Champion,^[1] and five-time participant in the FAI World Aerobatic Championships

• Simon Fairweather OAM – Olympic gold medalist

• Matthew Clarke (born 1995) – distance runner
• Jessica Stenson (born 1987) – distance runner

• Nathan Buckley – captained the Collingwood Football Club, winner of the Brownlow Medal
• Mark Ricciuto - player for the Adelaide Crows, winner of the Brownlow Medal
• Adam Cooney – player for the Western Bulldogs and the Essendon Football Club, winner of the Brownlow Medal
• Matthew Pavlich – captained the Fremantle Football Club
• Adelaide Football Club players
• Port Adelaide Football Club players

• Mark Bradtke – played one season in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers, played in the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers, Melbourne Tigers and Brisbane Bullets
• Lindsay Gaze – played for the Australian Boomers in three Olympics and coached the team in four Olympics
• Joe Ingles – plays for the Orlando Magic in the NBA
• Ben Madgen – plays in the NBL for the Sydney Kings
• Brett Maher – played in the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers
• Mike McKay – played in the NBL for the West Adelaide Bearcats, Adelaide 36ers, Brisbane Bullets, Canberra Cannons and Wollongong Hawks
• Brad Newley – plays in Spain for CB Gran Canaria, drafted to the NBA by the Houston Rockets
• Erin Phillips – plays in the WNBA for the Phoenix Mercury, played for the Connecticut Sun
• Luke Schenscher – played in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls and the Portland Trail Blazers
• Phil Smyth AM – played in the NBL for the St Kilda Saints, Canberra Cannons, Adelaide 36ers and Sydney Kings

• Craig Jones – two-time ADCC silver medalist (2019–2022)

• Greg Blewett – played for the Australian national cricket team
• Sir Donald Bradman AC – captained Australia, all-time highest Test batting average of any player with 99.94 (Note: Bradman was born in Cootamundra, New South Wales in 1908 and moved to Adelaide in 1934)
• Greg Chappell MBE – captained Australia
• Ian Chappell – captained Australia
• Trevor Chappell – played for Australia
• Albert Gillespie – played first-class cricket in England
• Jason Gillespie – played for Australia
• George Goodfellow – played first-class cricket in England
• Clem Hill – captained Australia
• David Hookes – played for Australia
• Barry Jarman OAM – captained Australia
• Arthur G. Jenkins – first South Australian to umpire a cricket Test match
• Darren Lehmann – played for Australia; current (2015) coach of the Australian team
• Wayne Phillips – played for Australia
• Vic Richardson OBE – captained Australia; won Magarey Medal (Australian Rules Football) and represented Australia in Baseball; grandfather of Ian, Greg and Trevor Chappell
• Shaun Tait – plays for Australia

• Alex Edmondson – Commonwealth Games Team pursuit champion, World individual pursuit champion 2014
• Annette Edmondson – Commonwealth Games gold medalist 2014, Olympic bronze medalist in the omnium 2012
• Matthew Glaetzer – Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalist for the Australian Cyclist team since 2009
• Alexandra Manly – professional cyclist at Orica-AIS
• Stephanie Morton – Commonwealth Games Individual Sprint Champion 2014
• Stuart O'Grady OAM – Olympic gold medalist in the Men's Madison, silver and bronze medalist in the 4000m Team Pursuit, bronze medalist in the Points Race, and four-time second-place finisher in the Tour de France
• Michael Turtur OAM – Olympic gold medalist in the Team Pursuit, and Race Director of the Tour Down Under
• Kimberley Wells – two-time national criterium champion, and current professional cyclist
• Sam Willoughby – Olympic silver medalist in the men's BMX and UCI BMX world champion

• Rob Modra – two-time Geelong Open Darts Championships

• Geoff Ogilvy – U.S. Open winner and three-time World Golf Championships winner
• Adam Scott – U.S. Masters winner and World number one

• Frank Giorgi – two-time Australian champion and world Super Middleweight champion
• Paul Slowinski – four-time Muay Thai world champion

• John Boulger – two-time Australian Speedway Champion, nine-time South Australian Champion, captained Australia to win the Speedway World Team Cup
• Jeremy Burgess – MotoGP engineer, helped Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi to 12 World Championships
• Garrie Cooper – founder of Elfin Sports Cars, Australian 1½ Litre Champion, Australian Sports Car Champion and Singapore Grand Prix winner
• Daniel Falzon – two-time Australian Superbike Champion
• Steve Martin – Superbike World Championship veteran and World Endurance Champion
• Billy McConnell – competes in the British Supersport Championship
• Nick Percat – V8 Supercar driver, Australian Formula Ford Champion and Bathurst 1000 winner
• Vern Schuppan – Formula One driver, 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
• Johnnie Walker – Australian Drivers' Champion and Australian Grand Prix winner
• Jack Young – two-time Speedway World Champion and nine-time South Australian Champion

• Bronson Reed – billed from Black Forest, signed to the WWE, former NXT North American Champion
• Rhea Ripley – signed to the WWE, current 2023 Women's Royal Rumble winner; former 1/2 of the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions; former Raw Women's Champion former NXT Women's Champion and former NXT UK Women's Champion (as well as being the inaugural champion for the latter)

• Dianne Alagich – played in the Women's United Soccer Association for the San Jose CyberRays, played for the Matildas
• John Aloisi – played in La Liga, Premier League and Serie A, played for the Socceroos at the FIFA World Cup
• Charlotte Grant – plays for the Matildas^[2]
• Diana Hall – played for the Matildas
• Awer Mabil – plays for FC Midtjylland
• Joel Porter – played for the Socceroos
• Alex Tobin – captained the Socceroos
• Aurelio Vidmar – captained the Socceroos
• Tony Vidmar – played for the Socceroos
• Adelaide United FC players

• Kylie Halliday – placed second at the Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships

• Kyle Chalmers – 2016 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 100m freestyle
• Emily Seebohm – 2012 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay and 2008 Summer Olympics gold medalist in the 4 × 100 metre medley relay

• Darren Cahill – Australian Open doubles finalist, US Open singles semi-finalist
• Lleyton Hewitt – U.S. Open and Wimbledon winner and World number one
• Thanasi Kokkinakis
• Alicia Molik – Australian Open and French Open doubles winner, reached World top ten singles ranking
• Mark Woodforde OAM – two-time Australian Open, one-time French Open, six-time Wimbledon, and three-time French Open doubles winner; Olympic gold and silver medalist; World number one

• Blake Gaudry – 2012 Summer Olympics competitor, Australian Gymnastics Championships Winner

• Tania Gooley-Humphry (born 1973) – beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player
• Tamsin Hinchley (born 1980) – volleyball player
• Becchara Palmer (born 1988) – beach volleyball player
• Kerri Pottharst OAM (born 1965) – Olympic gold and bronze medalist in beach volleyball
• Andrew Schacht (born 1973) – beach volleyball player

• Garry Gordon Cooper – retired airline captain, ex RAAF pilot
• Gladys Elphick – Australian Aboriginal active in Aboriginal affairs
• David Hicks – former Guantanamo Bay inmate, falsely convicted of 'providing material support to terrorism'
• Mohammad Tawhidi (b. 1982 or 1983), also known as the Imam of Peace, influencer and Imam

• List of University of Adelaide people