Ngunnawal () is a suburb in the district of

Gungahlin Gungahlin () is a Lands administrative divisions of Australia#Australian Capital Territory, district in the Australian Capital Territory, one of the fastest growing regions in Australia. The district is subdivided into suburbs, sections and blo ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The suburb is named in tribute to the

Ngunnawal people The Ngunnawal people, also spelt Ngunawal, are an Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. Language Ngunnawal and Gundungurra are Australian Aboriginal languages from the Pama-Nyu ...

, 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

. It is bounded by Gungahlin Drive, Horse Park Drive, Gundaroo Drive and Mirrabei Drive.

Ginninderra Creek Ginninderra Creek, a partly perennial stream of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Capital Country region spanning both the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales, Australia. ''Ginninde ...

is situated near Ngunnawal's eastern boundary. The suburb is located approximately 4 km from the

Gungahlin Town Centre Gungahlin is a suburb in the Canberra, Australia district with the same name; Gungahlin. The postcode is 2912. Gungahlin is the name for the entire district, and also the town centre, but it is also the name of the suburb which Gungahlin Town ...

and about 13 km from the centre of

Place names

Ngunnawal's place names relate to

indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

culture. For example: * Violet's Park on Marungul Avenue was named after Ngunnawal elder Josephine Violet Bulger in 1993. A commemorative artwork titled ''Meeting Place'' was installed in 2017 in honour of Violet's life and community contributions. * Wanganeen Ave is named after Ken Wanganeen, a prominent Aboriginal Affairs activist. * Jabanungga Avenue, one of the suburb's connector roads, bears the name of Robert Jabanungga, a local Aboriginal dancer and musician. * Yerra Court is named after the

Ngunnawal language The Ngunnawal people, also spelt Ngunawal, are an Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. Language Ngunnawal and Gundungurra are Australian Aboriginal languages from the Pama-Nyu ...

word for "swim" * Bural Court is named after the Ngunnawal language word for "day" * Mundawari Circuit is named after the Ngunnawal language word for "

bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipela ...

" * Bargang Crescent is named after the Ngunnawal language word for " yellow box gum" * Galmarra Street was named after

Jackey Jackey Jackey Jackey (also spelt Jacky Jacky) (c. 1833–1854), Aboriginal name Galmahra (or Galmarra), was the Aboriginal Australian guide and companion to surveyor Edmund Kennedy. He survived Kennedy's fatal 1848 expedition into Cape York Peninsul ...

(c. 1833–1854), Aboriginal name Galmahra (or Galmarra), the Aboriginal Australian guide and companion to explorer Edmund Kennedy

Community facilities

Education

The following educational facilities are in Ngunnawal: * Ngunnawal Preschool * Ngunnawal Primary School (which also hosts a

Koori Koori (also spelt koorie, goori or goorie) is a demonym for Aboriginal Australians from a region that approximately corresponds to southern New South Wales and Victoria. The word derives from the Indigenous language Awabakal. For some people ...

preschool)

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 David Ngunaitponi (28 September 1872 – 7 February 1967), known as David Unaipon, was an Aboriginal Australian preacher, inventor, and author. A Ngarrindjeri man, his contribution to Australian society helped to break many stereotypes of Abo ...

in 1992).

Geology

The Ngunnawal suburb is sited on the Canberra Formation and bedrock laided down during the late middle

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 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 third and shortest period of t ...

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 Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

and

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...

. In the North West corner is found

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

and

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

. A layer of

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

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 Fold, folding or foldable may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Fold'' (album), the debut release by Australian rock band Epicure * Fold (poker), in the game of poker, to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot *Abov ...

. 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.Henderson G A M and Matveev G, Geology of Canberra, Queanbeyan and Environs 1:50000 1980.

Footnotes

{{Gungahlin Suburbs Suburbs of Canberra