Chifley, Australian Capital Territory
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Chifley (
postcode A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...
: 2606) is a suburb of
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, in the district of
Woden Valley The District of Woden Valley () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The district is subdivided into divisions ( suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Woden Valley ...
. The suburb's area is . It was named after Joseph Benedict Chifley,
Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
from July 1945 to December 1949. The streets of Chifley are named for scientists and educationalists. It is next to the suburbs of Pearce, Lyons and Phillip. Behind it stands Mount Taylor, which is a nature park. It is bordered by
Hindmarsh Drive Hindmarsh Drive is a major arterial road in the southern suburbs of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. It is named after John Hindmarsh, first Governor of South Australia. The road forms the major east to west link through the Woden Valle ...
and Melrose Drive. A local shopping centre and Chifley Neighbourhood Oval are located in the suburb.


History

Chifley was established on 12 May 1966, which was around the same time when the
Woden Valley The District of Woden Valley () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The district is subdivided into divisions ( suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Woden Valley ...
was also established, thus making it one of the original settlement spots in the southern part of Canberra. The ''Districts Ordinance 1966 No. 5'' (Cth) became, after the enactment of the ''Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act'' 1988, the ''Districts Act'' 1966. This Act was subsequently repealed by the
ACT Government The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive authority of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The lead ...
and the district is now administered subject to the ''Districts Act'' 2002. Construction in the suburb itself also began in 1966, with 795 houses and 156 flats built to accommodate approximately 3,000 people. Most of the streets in Chifley were named after academics. The
Canberra bushfires of 2003 The 2003 Canberra bushfires caused severe damage to the suburbs and outer areas of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, during 18–22 January 2003. Almost 70% of the Australian Capital Territory's (ACT) pastures, pine plantations, and nat ...
engulfed multiple parts of Canberra on 18 January 2003 and also reached the Mount Taylor Nature Reserve which Chifley borders with. Thankfully the fires did not reach into Chifley or caused minimal damage in the suburb. in 2014, ACT Disability Minister
Joy Burch Joy Marie Burch is an Australian politician and the current Speaker of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. She has been a Labor Party member for the seat of Brindabella in the ACT Legislative Assembly since the 2008 ACT elec ...
, alongside
Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...
coach
Ricky Stuart Ricky John Stuart (born 7 January 1967) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Canberra Raiders in the NRL and a former rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He ...
launched a new respite centre project for children with disabilities. The facility will serve 30 to 40 families annually, and the ACT Government has funded the project with $1 million.


Geology

Chifley is underlaid by
Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...
age Deakin Volcanics
rhyodacite Rhyodacite is a volcanic rock intermediate in composition between dacite and rhyolite. It is the extrusive equivalent of those plutonic rocks that are intermediate in composition between monzogranite and granodiorite. Rhyodacites form from rapid ...
which are coloured green-grey, red or purple.


Demographics

At the , Chifley had a total population of 2,680 people: 48.2% were males and 51.8% were females. The median age of people in Chifley was 37 years, above the median age for Canberra of 35. The median individual income for Chifley was $1,191. Median household income was $2,347and the median income for families was $2,940, which was above the Australian average. Around 67.3% of the residents in Chifley were born in Australia. The three main countries of birth for those born overseas were
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
(4.1%),
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
(3.7%),
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
(2.8%),
Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
(2.2%) and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(1.8%). 71.3% of people spoke only English at home. The most popular religious affiliations in descending order were No Religion (41.9%), Catholic (20.1%), Hinduism (7.7%), and Anglican (7.3%).


Politics

Chifley is located in the federal
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district An ...
of
Bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
, which is the largest division in the Australian Capital Territory. The electorate of Bean is represented by David Smith of the
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
. Chifley is located in the
ACT Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...
electorate of Murrumbidgee. The electorate elects five members on the basis of proportional representation.


Suburb amenities


Shops and churches

Chifley has a small local shopping centre located on Eggleston Crescent. The shopping centre consists of a supermarket, a bakery, a restaurant, a podiatrist, chiropractor, and a local liquor store. Chifley has two churches both of which are located at Maclaurin Crescent, known as the Calvary Chapel and the Society of Saint Pius X Misson. https://sspx.com.au/en/community/priories


Recreation

Local playground and basketball courts are located there, a graffiti wall, and the Chifley Neighbourhood Oval. There are public BBQs at the playground.


Education

A small preschool is located in the suburb. The suburb once had a primary school originally named as Chifley Primary School, which opened in 1966. The school closed in 1989 and was renamed Melrose Primary School, until its closure again in 2006.


See also

*
Geology of the Australian Capital Territory The geology of the Australian Capital Territory includes rocks dating from the Ordovician around 480 million years ago, whilst most rocks are from the Silurian. During the Ordovician period the region—along with most of eastern Australia—was p ...


References

{{Woden Valley Suburbs Suburbs of Canberra