Goss was too quick for Omega Pharma Lotto's Andre Greipel and Radio Shack's Robbie McEwen at the end of the 138km stage which had started in Mawson Lakes. Goss was lead out by Mark Renshaw and went for victory with 250m to go.
Team Sky had Chris Sutton fourth and Greg Henderson tenth whilst the three Brits in the race were in the middle of the peleton. Mark Cavendish came in 62nd, Ben Swift 64th with Geraint Thomas (pictured below) 74th.
"Mark gave me the perfect lead out once again and dropped me off at 250m to go," said Goss to the HTC Highroad Press Office after the race. "It was a long sprint up hill and I could see Andre on my wheel so I was a little worried for a moment there. But I managed to hold them off so I'm happy about that."
Now holding the ochre leaders jersey after stage one, Goss hopes to keep it on his back or within the team until next Sunday.
"It's a great start for us and I'd love to be able to hold this lead for the whole week but there's a long way to go and we'll just have to see how it goes," said Goss. "We also have a very strong team and we have other riders who can also win here so we'll take it each day at a time and hopefully we can have the jersey at the end of the week."
You can see the highlights on Sky Sports later today.
Stage Two is 146km from Tailem Bend to Mannum.
Picture copyright of Covsupport News Service. Credit CNS/KM