See main article: 1996 Australian Open. Natasha Zvereva and Rick Leach were the defending champions but only Leach competed that year, with Rennae Stubbs.
Stubbs and Leach lost in the first round to Rene Simpson and Daniel Nestor.
Larisa Neiland and Mark Woodforde won in the final 4–6, 7–5, 6–0 against Nicole Arendt and Luke Jensen.
Champion seeds are indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which those seeds were eliminated.