The Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAA) is an Australian motor club that provides a range of member services.

[2] The head office of the Royal Automobile Association is located at RAA Place and has branches throughout the Adelaide metropolitan area and in South Australian regional centres.

[3] RAA benefits are not restricted to South Australia, with members having access to affiliate organizations interstate and overseas, including RACV, RACQ, RACWA, RACT, NRMA and AANT.

However, a growing gulf between the sports-minded members and those concerned with more serious matters caused a split in around 1910, which brought RAA close to a premature demise.

This prompted a response from South Australians – an increase in membership possibly without equality in the world – a growth of 1,379 percent in the decade from 1920.

In 1928 the association was granted the prefix 'Royal' by King George V, a sign of recognition from England and the State Government (which had to approve the application first) with which it still had bitter battles.

This acknowledged the association's role in guiding the State into a radically new era and its tireless work (particularly that of its members) in providing transport for wounded and sick soldiers returning from the battlefields of Europe during World War I. RAA bought its first freehold office at 49 in Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide, and moved in in 1928, shortly before the 20,000th member was enrolled.

Following the outbreak of World War II, RAA formed and operated the Civil Defense Transport Auxiliary, surveyed and mapped the state's roads for the military authorities, provided research into alternative fuels, and supported the cause in other ways.

Road Service changed, with the familiar motor cycle outfits replaced by vans, and the Guides became Patrols and started using two-way radios, operating 24 hours a day out of new premises in North Adelaide.

There were fears that the world was running out of crude oil, growing concerns about pollution, and differing opinions on the development of freeways and, indeed, on the future of the motor car.

Under a backdrop of ever-increasing taxes and charges, RAA fought to improve petrol-selling hours in Adelaide, lobbied for the city's first central off-street parking, and battled to get the Eyre Highway sealed.

In these inflationary times, the cost was escalating alarmingly, and the last straw was the prospect of metric conversion when distances changed from miles to kilometers.

RAA was the first motoring organization in the world to introduce a battery replacement service and the first in Australia to produce a computer CD with touring information – the TravelGuide CD-ROM.

RAA has contributed 100 baby capsules, for example, to an infant restraint hire scheme; sponsored alternative energy initiatives (including the annual Pedal Prix and solar-powered vehicles), introduced RAA Family Car of the Year (which has since been incorporated into the national awards for Australia's Best Cars) and participates in the ANCAP crash testing program in search of safer motoring.

The city branch returned to its historical and sentimental home at 41 Hindmarsh Square in 2009, with the site having been extensively redeveloped into a green, environmentally friendly complex.

In 2007, RAA's second longest serving Chief Executive, John Fotheringham, retired after 19 years in the role due to health problems, with Ian Stone appointed as his successor.

RAA has branches in the Adelaide central business district, Mile End, Elizabeth, Modbury, Marion, Morphett Vale, West Lakes.