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Division of Canberra

Australian federal electoral division

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 26, 2026
Entity authorityQ2973482
Source-derived summary

The Division of Canberra is an Australian electoral division in the Australian Capital Territory. It is named for the city of Canberra, Australia's national capital, and includes all of central Canberra, Kowen, Majura, as well as part of Weston Creek, Woden Valley, Molonglo Valley, Belconnen, and Jerrabomberra. Canberra's Parliament House, the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, is located within the division. It is currently held by Alicia Payne of the Labor Party.

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state or territory, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state or territory's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state or territory are malapportioned.

As of 2018, the division of Canberra includes Canberra Central, the Woden Valley suburbs of Curtin, Chifley, Garran and Hughes, the Belconnen suburbs of Aranda, Bruce, Cook, Giralang, Hawker, Kaleen, Lawson and Weetangera, the Jerrabomberra suburbs of Beard and Oaks Estate and the districts of Majura and Kowen.

History

The division was created in a redistribution of the former Division of Australian Capital Territory, gazetted on 19 April 1974. It originally encompassed the southern suburbs of Canberra, including the districts of Tuggeranong, Weston Creek and Woden Valley. It also generally included the land in the ACT south of the Molonglo River and Lake Burley Griffin, although at one time some suburbs in the inner south of the lake were includes in the now abolished division of Fraser.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Division of Canberra” as australian federal electoral division. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1984, 2018, 1974—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1974. The account is most persuasive where Division, Canberra and Australian can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as australian federal electoral division. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2973482. Authority coordinates are -35.349, 149.089. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1984, 2018 and 1974.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Division of Canberra”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Division of Canberra primary sources, Division of Canberra archive and Division research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Division of Canberra” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.