There are parking and access changes around Adelaide Botanic Garden and Botanic Park for WOMADelaide - find out more.
Our three Botanic Gardens and Botanic Park offer some of the state’s most spectacular filming locations with a wide range of natural scenic backdrops, glasshouses and period architecture.
Providing these incredible destinations comes at a significant cost, with ongoing maintenance, plant curation and a lot of tender loving care by our team.
As well as daily horticultural work, there are also a wide variety of events, weddings and other activities taking place in the Gardens and Park throughout the year.
To protect these spaces, provide a great experience for all, and to help manage events and other activities, you may require a Filming and Photography Permit if you wish to use these iconic destinations for your photography/filming.
Please read below for information on different requirements for permits.
If you are visiting a Botanic Garden or Botanic Park and photographing or filming for personal use no permit is required.
If you are then selling the images, this is considered commercial photography and a permit is required.
Please note that the use of drones is strictly prohibited for general visitors.
Wedding and wedding-related shoots - including engagements and proposals - are handled by our on-site Function Coordinators, at Blanco Horner.
This includes wedding photography when the ceremony and reception are not onsite at the Botanic Garden.
Visit the Botanic Gardens Weddings website for details on obtaining a permit for your shoot.
While fees rarely apply for students/not-for-profit organisations you are still required to apply for a Filming and Photography Permit so that we can determine if the shoot can go ahead, and coordinate accordingly.
Please complete the permit application form.
Allow at least 5 business days for the best chance of your application being approved.
A commercial shoot is where the photographer/videographer/business intends to make a profit from the shoot or use it to promote their products. This will require the purchase of a Filming and Photography Permit from the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium.
Please complete the permit application form.
The cost involved will depend on the size of crew and the amount of gear involved, access and vehicle requirements, the day and time of shooting (weekends and after hours will attract additional rates) and whether Botanic Gardens staff supervision and logistical support is required.
Allow at least 5 business days for the best chance of your application being approved.
Family photography, where you are hiring a professional photographer to take photos of your family, is considered commercial photography.
This will require the purchase of a Filming and Photography Permit from the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium. The photographer must apply for the permit, as they are being paid for a service.
Please complete the permit application form.
Allow at least 5 business days for the best chance of your application being approved.
For the safety and enjoyment of all visitors, and to protect botanical collections, wildlife and heritage-listed buildings, drone use by the general public is not permitted in any of the Botanic Gardens (Adelaide, Mount Lofty or Wittunga) or Botanic Park under section 22 of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium (BGSH) Regulations.
Drones are only occasionally permitted for use by garden staff for inspection of trees, or on the odd occasion by third parties for specific activities.
If you want to make a request to fly a drone in any of the Gardens or Park, you are required to seek approval from the Board of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium, and must have an aviation reference number (ARN), a remote pilot licence (RePL) and apply for a commercial photography permit.
Allow at least 5 business days for the best chance of your application being approved.
For more complex drone operations outside of the drone safety rules, additional permissions and approvals will be required including remotely piloted aircraft operator's certificates ReOC.
Filming and photography requests which the Gardens deem integral to the promotion of our work are typically approved at discounted or no cost.
If you are a media outlet, such as from a news team or magazine, please contact the Media Communications team with as much notice as possible to ensure your request is approved in time for the shoot.
Carefully complete the application form below with as much detail as possible about your proposed shoot.
Download a copy of the relevant Garden’s visitor map (Adelaide , Mount Lofty, Wittunga or Botanic Park) and use this to fill in the map coordinates of your proposed location on the form.
Allow at least 5 business days for the best chance of your application being approved.
Please refer to our Filming and Photography Rate Card for permit costs.
Commercial filming which takes place over several days may incur additional fees. Rates are applied at the sole discretion of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium according to the impact of the request.
Further enquiries
For further information, please contact our Media Communications Coordinator on (08) 8222 9345 or BGSHComms@sa.gov.au
