There were 32 member clubs in the Swiss Football Association (ASF/SFV), divided into two tiers of 16 teams each.
The format in both divisions was that the teams played a double round-robin to decide their table positions.
The Swiss champions would qualify for the 1983–84 European Cup, the runners-up and third placed team would qualify for the 1983–84 UEFA Cup.
The last two placed teams in the NLA were relegated to the NLB for the following season.
[1] The top-tier, Nationalliga A (NLA), was contested by the top fourteen clubs from the previous season and the two sides promoted from the second level 1981–82 Nationalliga B (these being Winterthur and Wettingen).