Daily life in Canberra during the 1950s and 1960s

Finding accommodation, settling into work and making friends were central experiences in Canberra's expanding postwar community. Hostels and public housing records reveal different ways of living, while new shops and a new lake changed the places residents could use.

Moving to a growing capital

Commonwealth departments transferred staff to Canberra, particularly from Melbourne. Defence’s relocation helped drive construction of the Russell offices. Government employment therefore shaped both working life and the demand for accommodation. Expansion also moved beyond the older city: development began in Woden–Weston Creek in 1961 and Belconnen in 1966. These dates mark beginnings, rather than completed communities with every facility already available. National Capital Authority history.

A room in a hostel

A detached family house was not everyone’s starting point. In an interview published by ABC News, historian Alan Foskett explained that accommodation shortages made hostels important to postwar Canberra. Havelock House in Turner opened in June 1951, with capacity for 160 residents in single and double rooms.

Its social life included dinner dances. Foskett recalled good food and fashionable sparkling drinks, offering a glimpse of organised entertainment and opportunities to meet people. His account describes a comparatively upmarket hostel; it should not be treated as evidence that every hostel offered the same comforts or that every resident enjoyed the same social life. ABC’s history of Havelock House.

Kitchens, neighbours and children's play

The Allawah, Bega and Currong flats near Civic show another response to housing demand. ArchivesACT dates their completion to 1956, 1957 and 1959 respectively. Built for growing numbers of public servants and other workers, they offered an alternative to hostel accommodation. Its account describes Currong apartments with heating, kitchens and substantial living space.

Shared surroundings could also produce friction. ArchivesACT reproduces a 1959 administrative minute recording a resident’s complaint about a nearby playground and noise from children and portable radios. This is unusually specific evidence of everyday recreation and neighbourly conflict. It records one complaint, not the opinion of every household. ArchivesACT’s account of the ABC Flats.

New places to shop and spend free time

Monaro Mall opened in 1963, adding enclosed shopping to Civic. Lake Burley Griffin opened in 1964, alongside major bridge works that connected the northern and southern parts of the city. These changes altered the settings for everyday outings during the decade.

A 1968 photograph reproduced by the National Capital Authority shows Dame Pattie Menzies’ grandchildren catching yabbies at the lake. It documents one family’s outdoor recreation, rather than proving how all Canberra children spent their leisure time. National Capital Authority history and photograph.

What these examples can tell us

This account concentrates on identifiable examples from Turner, the flats near Civic and the developing lake landscape. Official development histories establish when places changed; housing records and recollections offer narrower glimpses of life within them. A building’s opening date cannot establish every resident’s experience.

The evidence selected here does not adequately represent Aboriginal residents, migrant households or the full range of women’s paid and unpaid work. Those experiences require additional sources rather than assumptions drawn from public servant accommodation. Nor do these examples establish typical household budgets, meals or school routines across the whole city.

Explore the wider period in Modern Daily Life Locations.