Downer
- Local Government Area
- Unincorporated ACT
- Postcode
- 2602
- Population
- 4,296
- Area
- 1.63 km²
- Coordinates
- -35.2439, 149.1435
- Data
- Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics ASGS boundaries, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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About Downer
Downer is a suburb in the inner north of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, bounded by Northbourne Avenue, Antill Street and Philip Avenue. The suburb was gazetted in 1960 and named after Sir John Downer, a Premier of South Australia and member of the first Australian Senate in 1901. Much of the area was originally the CSIRO's Dickson Experiment Station, an agricultural research farm, and during World War II the site grew opium poppies to supply medications when imports were unavailable. Housing development began in the late 1950s.