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Overseas visitors and students
If you are visiting from overseas and you hold a current foreign driver's licence they you may drive a vehicle of the same class in South Australia. You must hold a current international driving permit unless your foreign licence is written in English or accompanied by an approved English translation. You must carry your licence, international permit and translation, if required, at all times when you drive.
See the Department of Transport website for more information.
New permanent residents and citizens
New permanent residents and citizens must apply for a South Australian licence within 3 months of arrival. If you are from a country that is recognised by South Australia (SA) as having equivalent driver licencing and testing standards then no practical driving test is required.
If your foreign licence is not recognised then you will be required to do a Vehicle On Road Test (VORT). On application you will be issued with a temporary permit (Section 80) which is valid for one month. In that time you must pass a VORT to be able to be eligible for a SA licence. If you are unsuccessful then you must apply for a Learner's permit and will only be allowed to drive accompanied by a supervising driver. This can have serious consequences if you require your licence for work or to get yourself to work.
Time and money
The VORT is a very difficult test and overseas drivers will need to have lessons if they hope to pass the test the first time. No one wants to spend $120 on a test that they had no hope of passing. Applicants will need at least 2 or 3 lessons, most of them even more. This may be hard to afford and make time for in the one month period that the Section 80 is valid for.
I would recommend that you do some lessons before applying for a SA licence so you can get an idea of the difficulty of the test and the number of lessons (and practice) you may require. Then you can make a plan and budget for the test so it can be achieved before the expiry of the Section 80 permit.
See the VORT section for more information.