Adelaide Health and Safety

You'll be safer here than in most cities worthy of the name, yet it's never wise to neglect the basic precautions. Adelaide may be a small and relatively peaceful city, but opportunistic crime - to which travellers tend to be more vulnerable than most - is still a reality. Make sure your belongings are secured or within reach at all times, that your car is locked and that you have copies of all vital travel documents (stored separately from the originals, of course).

There is some wildlife to be aware of too, although there's no need to get too worked up worrying about Australia's much-maligned venomous creatures. Redback spiders - easily identifiable by their eponymous scarlet stripe - are found in woodpiles, outdoor toilets and the like: their bite is highly venomous, but easily treated with a widely-available antinvene. Snakes - including the lavishly poisonous brown and tiger snake - can be found in Adelaide, especially in the forested fringes during the warmer months. Wear sturdy footwear when bushwalking and leave all snakes alone, and you won't have any problems. Antivenenes are widely available for all of Australia's venomous snakes too, and fatalities are extremely rare.