The suburb is named in tribute to the Ngunnawal people, the original inhabitants of the area.

[2] Ngunnawal is adjacent to the suburbs of Nicholls, Casey, Moncrieff, Amaroo and Gungahlin.

Ngunnawal Shopping Centre is located at the corner of Wanganeen Avenue and Jabanungga Avenue and provides a Spar supermarket, a bakery, a takeaway shop, a pharmacy, a gym, and a medical clinic with allied health facilities.

[10] The Ngunnawal suburb is sited on the Canberra Formation and bedrock laided down during the late middle Silurian age.

A layer of tuff is formed into a V-shaped surface exposure in the western half of the suburb.

The Deakin Fault runs roughly parallel to the fold axes on the south east side along Ginninderra Creek.