The women's 5000 metres event at the 1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics was held in Sydney, Australia, at International Athletic Centre on 23 and 25 August.
| Gold | Ayelech Worku | |
| Silver | Olivera Jevtić | |
| Bronze | Cristina Iloc |
25 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | align=left | | 15:40.03 | ||||
| align=left | align=left | 15:40.59 | |||||
| align=left | align=left | | 15:41.44 | ||||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 15:46.68 | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left |  | 15:58.15 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 15:58.96 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 16:13.40 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | | 16:20.39 | |||
| 9 | align=left | align=left |  | 16:20.60 | |||
| 10 | align=left | align=left |  | 16:23.70 | |||
| 11 | align=left | align=left |  | 16:28.33 | |||
| 12 | align=left | align=left |  | 16:32.51 | |||
| 13 | align=left | align=left | | 16:35.50 | |||
| 14 | align=left | align=left | 17:18.17 | ||||
| align=left | align=left | DNF |
23 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | | 16:26.53 | Q | ||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 16:29.53 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 16:32.12 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 16:33.69 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 16:34.40 | Q | ||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 16:43.19 | q | ||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 16:56.29 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | | 17:02.92 | |||
| 9 | align=left | align=left | 17:25.74 | ||||
| 10 | align=left | align=left | 17:34.74 | ||||
| 11 | align=left | align=left |  | 17:37.55 | |||
| 12 | align=left | align=left |  | 17:52.10 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | | 16:02.43 | Q | ||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 16:02.65 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 16:14.07 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 16:16.82 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 16:25.73 | Q | ||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 16:34.02 | q | ||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 16:41.32 | q | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | | 16:46.70 | q | ||
| 9 | align=left | align=left | 16:54.51 | q | |||
| 10 | align=left | align=left | | 16:57.31 | |||
| 11 | align=left | align=left |  | 17:13.92 | |||
| 12 | align=left | align=left |  | 19:08.75 |
According to an unofficial count, 24 athletes from 18 countries participated in the event.