1996 AFL season

The 1996 AFL season was the 100th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs and ran from 29 March until 28 September, comprising a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series.

North Melbourne won the premiership for the third time, after it defeated Sydney by 43 points in the 1996 AFL Grand Final.

The season was the final season for Fitzroy, a founding member of the VFL/AFL in 1897, and there were several celebrations of the league's centenary throughout the year.