The 1878 South Australian Football Association season was the 2nd season of the top-level Australian rules football competition in South Australia. The SAFA competition was contested by seven teams with the admission of Norwood, after Bankers and Woodville folded at the end of 1877. Each team played each other twice this season, the first time a standardised fixture was in place. In its first season, Norwood won their first premiership, going through the year undefeated.