Residential colleges of the Australian National University

There are eleven residential colleges affiliated with ANU—Bruce Hall, Ursula Hall, Burgmann College, John XXIII College, Toad Hall, Burton & Garran Hall, Graduate House, Fenner Hall, Wamburun Hall, Wright Hall, and Yukeembruk Village.

Burgmann College


Burgmann College, established in 1971, is an independent college that is affiliated with the Australian National University. It is the only Australian college to combine undergraduate accommodation with a substantial postgraduate student body. It houses 378 undergraduate students in the main college, and another 120 students in the adjoining Burgmann Undergraduate and Postgraduate Village. Burgmann College is located inside the western corner of the campus, close to the waters of Lake Burley Griffin. The college is named after Ernest H. Burgmann (1885-1967), the progressive Anglican Bishop (of Goulburn from 1934, and Canberra and Goulburn from 1950 to 1960). Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd met his wife Thérèse Rein while both living at the college.

Burton & Garran Hall
Burton and Garran Hall is a self catered residential college. It houses approximately 515 students and consists of five blocks. Burton and Garran Hall was originally established as two separate Halls in 1965, and each Hall had separate administration. Both Halls combined in 1983 to form a single residential college. Garran Hall was named after Sir Robert Garran, the first Solicitor-General of Australia. Burton Hall was named after Herbert Burton, who was appointed Principal and Professor of Economic History at Canberra University College in 1949.

Fenner Hall
Fenner Hall was established in 1992 and houses 451 students. It is a self-catered college and provides communal kitchens and restrooms. The residents are a variety of undergraduate, postgraduate and international students. The college is named after Frank John Fenner (1914-2010) who specialised in the field of virology at the ANU and is a renowned Australian scientist. The original Fenner Hall building was located on Northbourne Avenue, however, was relocated to the newly developed Kambri Precinct at the heart of ANU in 2019. The former Fenner Hall has not been demolished and was rebranded as Gowrie Hall in 2019 as a postgraduate accommodation complex. In 2021, the former building has been repurposed as the Canberra Accommodation Centre. The contemporary design of the new building infused with the commercial life of the university offers a unique living experience.

Fenner Hall is made up of a north wing and south wing. The construction of Fenner Hall featured a number of innovations in design and construction, most notably the use of mass timber structure - an Australian first for this type of building. The building has been measured to have used 33 per cent of the embodied carbon of traditional trades. Other environmental design strategies included the exclusion of fired ceramics in the wet areas, operable windows, fans and electric heaters being served by the Australian Capital Territory’s 100-per-cent renewable energy for climate control, and minimisation of floor finishes throughout.

Fenner Hall is an active member in the Interhall Sports Organisation, fielding teams in all sporting competitions, as well as the Interhall Arts Committee. The governing body of the hall is the Fenner Resident's Committee. The committee is responsible for general advocacy and welfare of the residents, as well as co-curricular life in sports, social and arts.

Graduate House
Graduate House was first established in 1971 and has around 150 graduate student residents.

John XXIII College
John XXIII College is an independent hall of residence for 320 undergraduate students, named after Pope John XXIII and was established in 1967.

Ursula Hall
Ursula Hall is a catered residential hall. The hall was founded as an all-female institution in 1968 by the Ursuline Order. In 1971 it became a co-educational college. In 2004, Ursula College became known as Ursula Hall. Notable alumni of the Ursula Hall include Barry O'Farrell who was president of the residents committee.

Wright Hall
Wright Hall is a flexi catered residential hall. It opened to students in 2019 and houses over 400 students. It sits on the western end of University Avenue, next to Bruce Hall. The creation of Wright Hall was announced in 2016, when Louise and Graham Tuckwell announced a $100 million plan to build Wright Hall and a new Bruce Hall. Wright is Louise Tuckwell's maiden name, and so the hall is named after Louise's ancestors. These ancestors include convicts sent to Australia on the First and Second Fleet. Wright Hall's moto is "Tenacitas, Comitas, Gratia," which translates to “get on with it, get on with each other and be grateful.”

Wamburun Hall
Wamburun Hall is a self-catered residential hall. It was established in 2019 and houses approximately 500 students. It occupies a building previously used by the residents of Bruce Hall, facing Black Mountain on one side and the southern part of the ANU campus on the other. The Hall provides a large communal kitchen with dining areas, where students can cook individually or in groups. There is a communal laundry with washing machines and dryers, common spaces like the Cage, the Nest, and the Quad. In the Cage, there are movie theatres, music rooms complete with a drum kit, guitars, and a piano, as well as an art room, a computer lab, and a large common room where events are commonly hosted. The sunny Quad in the middle of the building features shared community garden beds, and is a great place to eat meals, catch up with friends, read, or play backyard cricket and football. Lastly, the Nest is a fifth-floor sky lounge with a Café and a bar ran by the students living at Wamburun. All residents have the opportunity to participate in interhall social, arts and sports programs and a program of events presented by the residential community and the Hall. The name comes from the Ngunnawal word for large black cockatoo and was given to the Hall in 2018.

Yukeembruk Village
Yukeembruk Village is a self-catered residential hall. It was established in 2023 and houses approximately 700 undergraduate and postgraduate students, where there are 536 beds with shared bathrooms, 195 en-suite rooms and 'Masterchef' style kitchens in all buildings. Built on the southwest corner of the ANU campus, it faces Black Mountain and Sullivans Creek with views of lake Burley Griffin. The residential buildings are built around a large common house, complete with bike storage facilities, basketball court, and a common green, creating a village community. The name came from the word Yibaay-maliyan Yukeembruk (Eaglehawk and Crow) are the two main totems and totemic class system of the Canberra (Ngambri) region. The members of the Walgalu (Ngambri/Ngurmal) and Ngarigu (Currawang/Moolinggoolah) nations belongs within the nation to one of two classes or sections, which were inherited through the mother.

The official colors of Yukeembruk are bronze and teal. The bronze reflecting the surrounding earth tones and the teal representing water.

Yukeembruk faced multiple issues in its first semester of operation including lack of functioning washing machines and dryers. This issue was parodied by the Hall's residents for the 2023 IAC '40 Hours of film contest'.

At the end of the first semester, 129 of the 700 first time residents requested to transfer out of the hall due to the Head of Hall's, Scott Walker, unprofessional newsletter which was distributed to the residents and highlighted the constant theft and racism within Yukeembruk, which placed blame on the victims themselves.

At the end of the first year, there was a mass exodus of residents with very few who applied to return. The 2024 intake rate was abysmal for the village, with over 200 rooms not being occupied in semester 1, 2024. Due to the shear volume of vacancies, The ANU attempted to bribe students to live on campus by offering a referral bonus of $200 per student who signed the lease and $1,000 for referring three friends. This offer was unconvincing to potential residents, which resulted in an increase of the offer to $1,000 per referral and $5,000 for three referrals. This method resulted in many students claiming The ANU was engaging in practices used by pyramid schemes. The large amounts per referral, whilst deemed particularly high, is dwarfed by the contract agreements ANU has with external investment companies that collect the revenues from the rents of ANU's residential halls. In the case of Yukeembruk's empty 200 rooms, with a minimum weekly rental rate of $382 for a standard room, the $1,000 referral bonus was nothing to the $16,808 per empty room it is costing the ANU. For the 44 week contractual period, equating to approximately $3.5 million.

Yukeembruk features a cafe and bar called 'The Perch'. The Perch is open to the public and the bar is available for use by the residents of the village. In April 2024, the Perch had to cease daytime operations due to failing to adhere to the ACT's hospitality business regulations following The Food Act 2001.