Woden, Canberra: Southside Inner District, Shops and What to Know

Woden is one of Canberra's older established districts, developed primarily in the 1960s-1970s and serving as the southside inner-city equivalent of Belconnen. The Westfield Woden on Keltie Street is the district's commercial centrepiece and one of the ACT's largest shopping centres, currently undergoing redevelopment. Woden Town Centre has significant government office presence, housing several ACT government agencies and federal departments. The Woden Valley hospital precinct (Canberra Hospital) on Yamba Drive is one of the largest employers in the district and a major facility for the broader ACT and south-east NSW. The Phillip oval and the sports grounds along Swanson Court serve the inner-south sporting community. Mawson, one of the established residential suburbs within the broader Woden district, has a beloved independent shopping centre with a good butcher, bakery and specialty food retailers. The Weston Creek suburb area west of the district boundary provides additional residential and retail catchment. The light rail extension toward Woden is a major infrastructure project of the ACT Government.