The Dickson Centre, located in the suburb of Dickson, is a group centre in the inner northern suburbs of Canberra.
The centre is the main commercial centre for the inner northern suburbs, after Civic, and is a significant site of employment. A range of businesses, services and community facilities are located there as well as a private school: Daramalan College.
Dickson Centre is located approximately 4km north of Civic near Northbourne Avenue at the northern end of the suburb of Dickson. It lies on the southern side of Antill Street and is bounded on the eastern side by Cowper Street, the southern side by the Sullivans Creek stormwater channel and associated parkland, and on the western side by Challis Street.
Dickson Centre is the largest group centre in Canberra. It is structured as an outdoor pedestrian area with a ‘village square’ feel, without a mall or arcades. There is a broad range of community facilities, restaurants, cafés, shops and offices.
The central area around Woolley Street is often referred to as Canberra's Chinatown, which includes Indian, Korean, Japanese and South-East Asian restaurants as well as Chinese restaurants, a Chinese butcher, Asian supermarkets and fresh Asian grocery stores.
Community facilities within the Centre include: the post office, Inner North Walk-In Centre (an ACT health clinic staffed by nurses), Dickson Library, Northside Fitness Centre (a private gym) and Dickson Baptist Church. Nearby community facilities include: Dickson Pool, Majura Tennis Club, Northside Community Services, Majura playing fields, St Brigid's Catholic Church and an ACT Ambulance Service station, which serves the inner northern suburbs.
Immediately west of the Centre, between Northbourne Avenue and Challis Street, hosts large office buildings and multi-storey apartments with ground floor tenancies known as the DKSN complex. Services include: Telstra’s regional headquarters; TransACT; Canberra Imaging Group at 484 Northbourne; an ACT Government shopfront at 480 Northbourne; Dickson light rail station, and bus interchange.
Services inside the Centre include: Westpac and St George banks (Commonwealth bank closes 16 August 2024, NAB and ANZ have closed); Dickson newsagency; several dentists and pharmacies; medical centres; two physiotherapy clinics; a podiatrist; several automotive repairers; and small offices such as real estate agents and accountants. The Centre also hosts many of the major national and international brands and franchises, such as: Woolworths, Coles, McDonald's, Ampol, Shell, KFC, Subway, Zambrero's, and Domino's Pizza.
Night venues include a variety of restaurants along Woolley, Cape, Badham and Challis Streets; Dickson Taphouse pub; The Tradies (The Canberra Tradesman's Union Club); and Canberra Wine House.
Daytime meeting places and cafés include: Highroad, Hudson's, My Rainbow Dreams, Nicky's, Praga, Trev's, Elaine's Pies, Dickson Library and The Tradies Club.
Zoning changes adopted as a result of the 2011 Dickson Centre Master Plan, [1] permit new buildings up to 12 metres (three storeys) high on the parking areas in Section 30 around the shopping centre, except for an area next to Antill Street where 24 metre high buildings are permitted. In the area to its west and south (north of Sullivans Creek and east of Challis Street, including the Woolley St area), 21 metre (six storey) high buildings are permitted. [2] A new Coles and 140 apartments opened in September 2023 on the former public carpark north of Woolworths supermarket.
Several roads in the Centre were re-named in 2023 to recognise the significant contributions made by local women: Joan Kellett Way (where the east-west road passes between Dickson Baptist Church and the Inner North Walk-In Centre); and Hanna Enders Lane (the section of one-way road that travels east past McDonald's and turns north past Dickson Library toward Antill Street).
The forecourt of Dickson Library has also been given a legal place name for the first time: Taglietti Square, in honour of the library's famous Italian-Australian architect, Dr Enrico Taglietti.
Canberra’s light rail line runs along Northbourne Avenue which forms the western boundary of the suburb of Dickson. The Dickson interchange is the third busiest stop on the line. Dickson Centre is located near the corner of two major roads - Antill Street and Northbourne Avenue. These streets also intersect with Mouat Street, a major route to suburbs in northern Belconnen.
The Centre is well served by buses running to surrounding suburbs and also further afield to Civic and Belconnen. Dickson Interchange south of Antill Street on Canberra's light rail line opened in April 2019 on Northbourne Avenue.
The area that became Dickson shopping centre, suburban streets and playing fields was Canberra's first Aerodrome in the early history of Canberra. [3] A former plaque on the front of Dickson Library was removed in 2021 because of errors, and replaced by a Canberra Tracks sign on the lawn outside Dickson Baptist Church. The sign describes the Territory's first fatal aviation disaster, that occurred just north of the library between Antill and Blacket Streets in Downer in 1926.
Belconnen is a district in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. As at the 2021 census, the district had a population of 106,061 people; and was the most populous district within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Civic is the city centre or central business district of Canberra. "Civic" is a common name for the district, but it is also called Civic Centre, City Centre, Canberra City and Canberra, and its official division name is City.
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. It is currently held by Alicia Payne of the Labor Party.
Braddon is an inner north suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia located adjacent to the Canberra CBD.
Turner is a suburb in the Australian city of Canberra, close to Canberra City and the Australian National University.
Gungahlin is a district in the Australian Capital Territory, one of fastest growing regions in Australia. The district is subdivided into suburbs, sections and blocks. Gungahlin is an Aboriginal word meaning either "white man's house" or "little rocky hill".
Lyneham is a suburb of Canberra, Australia in the North Canberra district. It is named after Sir William Lyne, premier of New South Wales from 1899 to 1901. The suburb name was gazetted in 1928, but development did not commence until 1958. The streets of Lyneham are named after artists and people associated with the development of early Canberra.
Dickson is a suburb in the Inner North of Canberra, Australia. It is named after Sir James R. Dickson (1832–1901) who was a Queensland advocate of Australian Federation and one of the founders of the Australian Constitution. There is no specific theme for street names.
Northbourne Avenue is a major road in Canberra, Australia. It extends from City Hill in the south, to the Federal Highway in the north.
ACTION is a bus operator in Canberra, Australia, and is owned by the Government of the Australian Capital Territory.
The suburbs of the Australian Capital Territory are organised into a hierarchy of districts, town centres, group centres, local suburbs and other industrial areas and villages. While these divisions have no formal role in the governance or administration of the city, they formed a basis for the planning and development of the city and are significant to the city's commercial and social activities.
Watson is a suburb of Canberra, Australia in the North Canberra district. Watson is named after the third Prime Minister of Australia, John Christian Watson. The suburb name was gazetted on 7 April 1960. Streets in Watson are named after Australian judges and other legal professionals.
Hackett is an inner north suburb of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Located approximately 4.5 km north-east of the central business district, Hackett is adjacent to Watson, Dickson and Ainslie. It is bounded by Antill Street and Philip Avenue, and the Mount Majura Nature Reserve to the east. Hackett has a neighbourhood oval, and shopping centre.
Canberra is home to a number of important musical venues and institutions, including the Llewellyn Hall performance venue, part of the Australian National University School of Music, and a number of music festivals including Canberra International Music Festival, Canberra Country Blues & Roots Festival and the National Folk Festival. The local music scene includes many bars and nightclubs for local performers, mostly clustered in Dickson, Kingston and the City Centre.
Canberra Central is a district in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. Consisting of both the subdivisions of North Canberra and South Canberra. The district is subdivided into divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Canberra Central lies entirely within the bounds of the city of Canberra, the capital city of Australia.
Ginninderra Drive is a major arterial road in the northern suburbs of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The road provides an important access corridor to facilities including the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra Stadium, the University of Canberra and Belconnen Town Centre. It is built to a dual carriageway standard carrying two or three traffic lanes in each direction for most of its length, with a speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph). A short section from Charnwood to Dunlop is single carriageway with a speed limit of 60 km/h (37 mph). The first section of the road, connecting Lyneham with the new suburb of Evatt opened to traffic in October 1976.
Dickson Interchange is a transport interchange in Dickson, an inner-northern suburb of Canberra. The interchange allows transfers between the Canberra Metro light rail network and local ACTION bus services. As part of the construction of the Civic to Gungahlin light rail line, a new $4 million bus interchange opened in 2018. The interchange was built on land compulsorily acquired by the ACT Government in 2015, the terms of which were not disclosed to the public. Construction allowed direct access for bus and pedestrian traffic between Northbourne Avenue and Challis Street, as well as accommodation for up to nine local bus routes, a new taxi rank, kiss and ride facilities and signalised pedestrian crossings. The new facilities became an important connection point for commuters under a redesigned timetable that integrated bus and light rail services in early 2019.
The Canberra-Yass railway is a proposed 64-kilometre (40 mi) link between the centre of Canberra and the Sydney-Melbourne rail line at Yass Junction, via Yass town.
The Sullivans Creek shared path is a 3.7 km (2.3 mi) commuter cycleway in Canberra, Australia. Opened in December 1973, the path was the first off-street cycleway in Canberra and forms a trunk route from which the network extends to the districts of North Canberra, Belconnen and Gungahlin. Transport Canberra's designated cycling routes C1, C3 and C6 all traverse sections of the path, which is by far the busiest cycle route in the city.
