Aboriginal AFL Academy set up in Adelaide

South Australia has set up an Aboriginal AFL Academy, which Premier Jay Weatherill says is the first in the nation.

Aboriginal students who excel in football will be able to develop their skills and complete their schooling at a specialised academy at Alberton Oval in Adelaide.

Last year, almost 70 per cent of Aboriginal students in South Australia stayed on to Year 12, which the premier said was the highest retention rate in the nation.

"The academy is an opportunity to keep building on this by incorporating football into study," he said on Wednesday.

The SA government will provide $50,000 funding a year to the program, which has an inaugural intake this year of 30 secondary students from years 10, 11 and 12.