Hackett () is an inner north suburb of
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 ...
, the capital city of Australia. Located approximately 4.5 km (2.8 mi) 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
Mount Majura is a small mountain with an elevation of that is located in the northern suburbs of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Mount Majura lies close to the more prominent Mount Ainslie and is the highest point w ...
Nature Reserve to the east. Hackett has a neighbourhood oval, and shopping centre.
The suburb was named after Sir
John Winthrop Hackett
Sir John Winthrop Hackett Sr. (4 February 184819 February 1916), generally known as "Winthrop Hackett", was a proprietor and editor of several newspapers in Western Australia, a politician and a university chancellor.
Early life
Hackett was ...
(1848–1916), who was a newspaper editor and worker for the
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Wester ...
. Streets in Hackett are named after scientists.
Geology
Calcareous
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 ...
s from the Canberra Formation is overlain by Quaternary alluvium.
This rock is the limestone of the original title of Canberra "Limestone Plains".
The higher eastern side of Hackett is on top of the lowest layer of the Ainslie Volcanics, a grey
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 other erupted particles such as
agglomerate
Agglomerate (from the Latin ''agglomerare'' meaning "to form into a ball") is a coarse accumulation of large blocks of volcanic material that contains at least 75% bombs. Volcanic bombs differ from volcanic blocks in that their shape records flui ...
and
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 ...
.
Demography

There were 2,991 usual residents of Hackett enumerated in the
2016 Census.
Hackett is socially and economically advantaged. In 2016, its population was highly educated, with 53% of adults having completed a university degree, compared to just 22% in Australia as a whole.
Its unemployment rate was estimated to be just 2.6% in December 2019, just over half the national average of 5.1%. This relative economic prosperity is reflected in median personal incomes which, in the 2016 Census, were reported to be 1.6 times the national average.
Overall, the
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is an List of Australian Government entities, Australian Government agency that collects and analyses statistics on economic, population, Natural environment, environmental, and social issues to advi ...
estimate that Hackett is among the top 5% most advantaged suburbs in Australia according to its
index of socio-economic advantage and disadvantage.
Hackett is less culturally and linguistically diverse than the rest of the Australian Capital Territory and Australia as a whole. It has an unusually large proportion of the population born in Australia and relatively few residents born in China and India, and a relatively large number of households where English is the only language spoken.
In terms of religious diversity, Hackett is unusual in that a majority of residents (53%) report having no religious affiliation, compared with 30% nationally.
Politics
Hackett is located within the federal
division of Canberra
The Division of Canberra is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the Australian Capital Territory. It is named for the city of Canberra, Australia's national capital, and includes all of cent ...
, which is currently represented by
Alicia Payne
Alicia Emma Payne (born 24 July 1982) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives since the 2019 Australian federal election, 2019 federal election. She is a member of th ...
in the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
. The suburb is the home of
Andrew Leigh
Andrew Keith Leigh (born 3 August 1972) is an Australian politician, author, lawyer and former professor of economics at the Australian National University. He currently serves as the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities ...
, the Member of Parliament representing the neighbouring electoral
division of Fenner
The Division of Fenner is an Australian Electoral Division in the Australian Capital Territory and the Jervis Bay Territory. As of the 2018 redistribution, it includes Gungahlin and the part of Belconnen north of Belconnen Way and west of E ...
.
House of Representatives primary vote statistics are shown to the right for the ''Dickson East'' polling place (at
Dickson College
Dickson College is a public two-year secondary college located in the Canberra suburb of Dickson, Australian Capital Territory. It was established in 1976 on the former Dickson High School campus when it closed.
It was set to close after bei ...
) in the
2019 federal election. The Dickson East booth, located on the boundary between Hackett and
Dickson, returned the strongest vote for the Greens in the House of Representatives of any polling place in the Australian Capital Territory in the 2019 federal election.
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 Squa ...
, Hackett falls within the
electorate of Kurrajong. Kurrajong is represented by five Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), who are elected using the proportional
Hare–Clark electoral system
Hare–Clark is a type of single transferable vote electoral system of proportional representation used for elections in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. It was one of the first uses of the Gregory method for transfers of winner's su ...
. Currently, it is represented by two Labor, one
Greens, one
Liberal and one Independent MLA. Two of these five MLAs are cabinet ministers. The suburb is represented in local matters by th
Hackett Community Association an affiliated member of the North Canberra Community Council.
Particular street names
*Grayson Street is named after scientist
Henry Joseph Grayson
*Mackenzie Street is named after anatomist
William Colin Mackenzie
*Madigan Street is named after geologist
Cecil Thomas Madigan.
*Maitland Street is named after geologist
Andrew Gibb Maitland
*Richards Street is named after geologist
Henry Caselli Richards
Henry Caselli (H. C.) Richards (16 December 1884 – 13 June 1947), was an Australian professor of geology, academic and teacher.
Education
Richards was born in Melton, Victoria and was educated at Kingswood College (Box Hill), Box Hill Gramm ...
*Rivett Street is named after chemist
Albert Cherbury David Rivett.
*Selwyn Street is named after English Australian geologist
Alfred R. C. Selwyn
*Skeats Street is named after English Australian geologist
Ernest Willington Skeats.
Ernest Willington Skeats
/ref>
See also
* Canberra District wine region
References
{{North Canberra Suburbs
Suburbs of Canberra