Bruce, Australian Capital Territory

Bruce is a suburb of the Belconnen district of Canberra, that is located within the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb was gazetted on 6 June 1968 and named for The Viscount Bruce of Melbourne (1883–1967), the eighth Prime Minister of Australia and the first Chancellor of the Australian National University.

Bruce Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Apartments on Thynne Street
Bruce
Coordinates	35°14′31″S 149°04′37″E
Population	7,520 (SAL 2021)
Established	1968
Postcode(s)	2617
Elevation	622 m (2,041 ft)
Area	5.8 km2 (2.2 sq mi)
Location	8 km (5 mi) WNW of Canberra CBD
District	Belconnen
Territory electorate(s)	Ginninderra
Federal division(s)	Canberra
Suburbs around Bruce: Lawson Kaleen Lyneham Belconnen Bruce O'Connor Macquarie Aranda Black Mountain

Demographics

At the 2021 census, Bruce had a population of 7,520 people, an increase from 6,390 in 2011 and 3,012 in 2001. 58.1% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China (6.2%), India (4.9%), Nepal (3.5%), England (2.1%) and Vietnam (1.6%). 62.7% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin (6.7%), Nepali (3.5%), Cantonese (2.0%) and Vietnamese (1.8%). The most common responses for religion were No Religion (44.1%) and Catholic (15.3%). 20.7% of dwellings were separate houses, 45.8% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses or townhouses and 33.4% of were units or apartments.

Places of interest

• Canberra Stadium is the home of the Canberra Raiders rugby league and Brumbies rugby union sides, and occasionally hosts national and international sporting events
• Canberra International Sports and Aquatic Centre
• The University of Canberra (UC) has an enrolment of over 10,000 students and is one of four major universities in Canberra
• The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS)
• Calvary Public Hospital
• Bruce Campus of the Canberra Institute of Technology
• Radford College

Development

The Fern Hill section of the suburb was originally planned as a hub for information and communications technology businesses, with some low-rise office buildings being developed off Thynne Street, along with a small commercial centre including a cafe. However, the area has seen considerable residential development, with densities ranging from detached houses through to four-storey apartment buildings, with commercial ground floor uses.

Street names

Suburb sign

Many of the streets in Bruce are named after people and places associated with Australian tertiary education, including:

• Agar Street – Wilfred Eade Agar, professor of zoology
• Battye Street – James Battye, chancellor
• Braybrooke Street – Ernest Kingston Braybrooke, professor of law
• College Street – Canberra College of Advanced Education, now the University of Canberra
• Crisp Circuit – Finlay Crisp, professor and Rhodes Scholar
• Funder Street – Kathleen Funder, writer, teacher, and educational psychologist
• Jaeger Circuit – John Conrad Jaeger, professor of geophysics and mathematics
• Leverrier Street – Frank Leverrier, vice-chancellor
• Mugglestone Place – Donald Mugglestone, professor of physics
• Purdie Street – Alexander Purdie, professor of geology
• Thynne Street – Andrew Joseph Thynne, government minister and university chancellor and vice-chancellor (who pronounced his name "thin")

Transport

Aerial view from west

The suburb is also relatively well-served by public transport, with routes R2, R3 and R4 running through it via the Calvary Hospital, Radford College, and the University of Canberra. Route R9 connects the suburb to the Gungahlin light rail at Dickson. Additionally, a number of cycle routes provide links to the Inner North, Belconnen Town Centre, and Kaleen.

Political representation

For the purposes of Australian federal elections for the House of Representatives, Bruce is in the Division of Canberra.

For the purposes of Australian Capital Territory elections for the ACT Legislative Assembly, Bruce is in the Ginninderra electorate.

Geology

Main article: Geology of the Australian Capital Territory

Bruce is dominated by the greywacke of the Ordovician Pittman Formation. Bands of the black Acton Shale Member are found under the University of Canberra and the Calvary Hospital. Glebe Farm Adamellite is a coarse porphyritic micro adamellite of the Silurian age. It intrudes in the west north and southeast and southwest of University of Canberra. A triangle of Silurian age calcareous shale of the Canberra formation is in the north east of Bruce.

Gallery

• 
  Canberra Stadium
• 
  Australian Institute of Sport
• 
  University of Canberra
• 
  Canberra Institute of Technology
• 
  Residential area within Bruce
• 
  The Hub apartment complex
• 
  Apartments, Braybrooke Street

Further reading

• Raggatt, Matthew (11 April 2014). "A weekend in your suburb: 36 hours in Bruce". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014.