Monica Seles defeated Anke Huber in the final, 6–4, 6–1 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1996 Australian Open. It was Seles' fourth Australian Open title and ninth and last major title overall, and her only major title after her 1993 stabbing. Mary Pierce was the defending champion, but lost to Elena Likhovtseva in the second round.

Seeds

• # 🇺🇸 Monica Seles (champion) • # 🇪🇸 Conchita Martínez (quarterfinals) • # 🇪🇸 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (quarterfinals) • # 🇫🇷 Mary Pierce (second round) • # 🇯🇵 Kimiko Date (second round) • # 🇦🇷 Gabriela Sabatini (fourth round) • # Iva Majoli (quarterfinals) • # 🇩🇪 Anke Huber (final) • # 🇺🇸 Mary Joe Fernández (fourth round) • # 🇺🇸 Lindsay Davenport (fourth round) • # Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (fourth round) • # 🇧🇾 Natasha Zvereva (first round) • # 🇺🇸 Chanda Rubin (semifinals) • # 🇺🇸 Amy Frazier (first round) • # 🇯🇵 Naoko Sawamatsu (fourth round) • # Amanda Coetzer (semifinals)

Qualifying

Draw

Finals

Top half

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 5

Section 6

Section 7

Section 8