The suburb is named after Sir John Langdon Bonython, the owner of The Advertiser (Adelaide) who promoted Federation, and was a member of the first Australian parliament.

Lower Stranger Pond sits at the northern end of the suburb, formed by a manmade dam across a natural drainage channel.

The Pond surroundings were landscaped early during the suburb’s construction and have now become a focus for a variety of native wildlife, including black swans, pelicans and kangaroos.

The suburb is conveniently close to a number of major employers in the nearby Tuggeranong Town Centre (distance 1–2 kilometres).

Many Bonython residents can walk to work – a rare luxury in a city designed in the 20th century primarily for car transportation.

On Barr-Smith Avenue, close to the Bonython Primary School, is Kindy Patch Child Care Centre.

A commute from Bonython to Civic (with a change at Tuggeranong interchange since April 2019) in morning peak hour traffic takes approximately 40–45 minutes.

The western side of Barr Smith Avenue was, for 20 years, without a footpath but is now mostly connected (the only exception being a small stretch of grassy land between Derrington Crescent and Ebenezer Street, which the ACT Government has apparently prioritised for completion but as of 2017 failed to deliver on).

The opening of the Caroline Chisholm Centre in March 2008 at Greenway has heightened the suburb's appeal as a residential location.