Ngunnawal is a suburb in the district of Gungahlin in Canberra, Australia. The suburb is named in tribute to the Ngunnawal people, the original inhabitants of the area. The suburb was gazetted on 24 April 1992. Ngunnawal is adjacent to the suburbs of Nicholls, Casey, Moncrieff, Amaroo and Gungahlin. It is bounded by Gungahlin Drive, Horse Park Drive, Gundaroo Drive and Mirrabei Drive. Ginninderra Creek is situated near Ngunnawal's eastern boundary. The suburb is located approximately 4 km from the Gungahlin Town Centre and about 13 km from the centre of Canberra.

Place names

Ngunnawal's place names relate to indigenous Australian culture. For example:

Community facilities

Education

The following educational facilities are in Ngunnawal:

Shops

There are two small shopping centres in Ngunnawal. Ngunnawal Shopping Centre is located at the corner of Wanganeen Avenue and Jabanungga Avenue and provides a Spar supermarket, a bakery, a takeaway shop, a pharmacy, a gym, and a medical clinic with allied health facilities. An IGA store is located in the eastern area of Ngunnawal on Mirrabei Drive.

Libraries

The Arabanoo Street Library is located in Ngunnawal.

Housing

Ngunnawal primarily consists of residential property. A housing estate called "Broadview Estate" is located in the northwestern edge of Ngunnawal. There is a retirement village called "The Grove" in Ngunnawal.

Attractions

The Gold Creek Homestead is located in Ngunnawal.

Churches and schools

New Life Presbyterian Church is located on 107 Wanganeen Avenue. Ngunnawal Primary School is located on Unaipon Avenue (named after David Unaipon in 1992).

Geology

The Ngunnawal suburb is sited on the Canberra Formation and bedrock laided down during the late middle Silurian age. The area was studied in more detail than many other parts of Canberra by J P Ceplecha from the ANU in 1971. Most of Ngunnawal is based on slaty shale and mudstone. In the North West corner is found dacite and quartz andesite. A layer of tuff is formed into a V-shaped surface exposure in the western half of the suburb. A smaller N-shaped outcrop of tuff is found in the east corner. A crook-shaped outcrop of ashstone is exposed just to the east of the Vee. The structure of the rock has been determined by folding. The folds are aligned north-north east and plunge to the south south west. An anticline determines the point of the Vee pointing south south west. Another anticline determines the end of the crook shape. A syncline determines the top of the crook. The Deakin Fault runs roughly parallel to the fold axes on the south east side along Ginninderra Creek.

Footnotes