Croydon was created in the 1998 electoral distribution as a safe Labor seat, replacing the abolished Spence. It was first contested at the 2002 state election, where it was won by future Attorney-General and SpeakerMichael Atkinson, the previous member for Spence since 1989. The seat is split between the marginal federal seats of Adelaide and Hindmarsh and the safe federal Labor seat of Port Adelaide. Following the 2014 election Croydon became Labor's safest seat on an 18.9 percent margin.
In February 2017, Atkinson announced his intention to resign from parliament and not recontest the seat as of the 2018 election.[2] Upper house MP Peter Malinauskas succeeded him at the 2018 election.[3]
The 2020 redistribution added Kilburn and the north-west quarter of Prospect from neighboring Enfield. The parts of Allenby Gardens, Welland and West Hindmarsh were removed from and added to the electorate of West Torrens.[4]