It will run from 17 December 2016 until a yet to be determined date in 2017, with the formal structure of the league having been changed to incorporate 3 additional teams, each from a different state or territory.
The AJIHL is the highest Australian national junior ice hockey competition.
It planned to include teams from Queensland, South Australia and Australian Capital Territory into the regular season format after the previous season using a Tier 2 tournament for the 3 new teams.
Two other issues faced at the beginning of the season were that there was no ice availability reserved in Melbourne, Victoria to schedule games for the Melbourne Glaciers and Adelaide was again experiencing issues with its main rink cooling system.
The regular season began on 15 December 2016 and will run as a weekend style tournament format for 2017.