The 1978 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Racing Cars complying with Australian Formula 1.[1] It was the 22nd Australian Drivers' Championship to be awarded by CAMS.[2] The title winner, Graham McRae, was awarded the 1978 CAMS Gold Star.[3]
The championship was contested over a three-round series.[3]
| Round | Round name | Circuit | Date | Format | Winner | Car | Report | |
| 1 | Oran Park | 30 July | One race | John McCormack | McLaren M23 Leyland | |||
| 2 | Australian Grand Prix | Sandown | 10 September | One race | Graham McRae | McRae GM3 Chevrolet[4] | Report | |
| 3 | Calder | 15 October | Two heats | Graham McRae | McRae GM3 Chevrolet |
Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six place-getters[1] at each round.
Where a round was contested in two heats, points were allocated on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first 14 place-getters in each heat.[1] The six drivers attaining the highest aggregate from both heats were then awarded the championship points for that round.[1] Where more than one driver attained the same total, the relevant placing was awarded to the driver who was higher placed in the last heat.[1]
| Position | Driver | No.[5] | Car | Entrant | Ora | San | Cal | Total | |
| 1 | Graham McRae | 2 | McRae GM3 Chevrolet | Thomson Motor Auctions | 2 | 9 | 9 | 20 | |
| 2 | John McCormack | 1 | McLaren M23 Leyland | J McCormack | 9 | - | 3 | 12 | |
| 3 | Kevin Bartlett | 3 | Brabham BT43 Chevrolet | Thomson Motor Auctions | 6 | 2 | - | 8 | |
| 4 | Terry Hook | 19 | Lola T332 Chevrolet | T Hook | 1 | - | 6 | 7 | |
| 5 | Peter Edwards | 21 | Lola T332 Chevrolet | Shellsport | - | 4 | 2 | 6 | |
| = | John Briggs | 33 | Matich A51 Repco Holden | John Roberts Motors Pty Ltd | - | 6 | - | 6 | |
| 7 | Ian Adams | 18 | Lola T330 Chevrolet | I Adams | - | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| 8 | Garrie Cooper | 12 | Elfin MR8 Chevrolet | Ansett Team Elfin | 4 | - | - | 4 | |
| 9 | Peter Middleton | 5 | Elfin MR5 Repco Holden | P Middleton | - | 3 | - | 3 | |
| = | John Bowe | Elfin MR8 | Ansett Team Elfin | 3 | - | - | 3 | ||
| 11 | Bronwyn Taylor | 14 | Matich A50 Repco Holden | B Taylor | - | - | 1 | 1 |
The regulations for the championship were published by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport under the name Australian Formula 1 Championship,[1] and the Official Souvenir Program for the 1978 Australian Grand Prix listed the race as "Round 2, 1978 Australian Formula One Championship".[5] However it was reported in the Australian Competition Yearbook (Number 8) as the Australian Drivers' Championship[3] and is recognized by CAMS as the 1978 Australian Drivers' Championship[2] and the latter term has been used for this article.