Curtin is named after John Curtin (born 1885), who was prime minister of Australia during the second world war, 1941-45.
The suburb was created as part of the first stage of expanding housing for the rapid growth of Canberra in the 1960s, as one of the first suburbs in the Woden Valley. Curtin is one of the suburbs created as a Group Centre, larger than most others at the time, with a centre for retail shops and commercial services. The streets are named after Australian state premiers. The fiftieth anniversary was celebrated in 2014, including the publication of a book Curtin Turns 50, edited by Carolyn Brody, Peter Forster, and Margitta Acker.
Early residents have provided their memories of experience in Curtin, collected by the Canberra and District Historical Society.
In the first half of the 2020s Curtin has a population of 5500 people, living in a mixture of separate houses, recent multiple units and townhouses, and low rise multiple units around d the group centre.
The next decade may see further growth as the ACT government implements its policy of densification.