The latest 2016 census results published on Monday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show 30.8 per cent of people in the ACT reported working in the sector, down from 32.7 per cent in 2011 and slightly higher than 30.1 per cent in 2006.

Public sector employment was buffeted in the period, including from more than 15,000 public service job cuts.

Canberra leads the nation on riding and walking to work, but the new data showed a 5 percentage point increase in the number of people who report driving.

Last year 74.9 per cent said they drove to work, either as the driver or passenger, up from 69.3 per cent in 2011.

A further 8.4 per cent said they rode a bike or walked to work and 7.1 per cent said they used trains or buses.

The remaining population share drove trucks, motorbikes or used some other method.

Cycling rates in the ACT have grown from 2.1 per cent in 2006 and 2.4 per cent in 2011.

In 2016, more than half of the population in each Australian state or territory held a non-school qualification for the first time, with 65 per cent of ACT residents aged above 15 years reporting have completed further study.

Tasmania had the lowest proportion of further study rates with 51 per cent.

The ACT also had the highest year 12 completion rates in the country last year, at 57 per cent, ahead of Queensland at 42 per cent.

Children in the ACT are required to be in education until they complete year 12 or turn 17, whichever happens first.

The results showed Canberrans continue to move more regularly than people in some other states and territories.

More than 67,100 Canberrans lived at a different address from where they were one year ago, making up 18.6 per cent of the territory's population.

More than 47 per cent of the territory population, or 166,068 people, lived at a different address to five years ago.

Figures published in June showed Canberra had the fastest population growth anywhere in Australia in the past five years, with a boom in the city's north making Gungahlin Australia's second-fastest growing region.

Migration from other states is continuing with more than 17,200 Canberrans reporting they lived interstate one year ago, and a further 47,881 said they lived interstate five years ago.

More than 9400 ACT residents lived overseas one year ago, while 29,300 people said they were based overseas overseas five years ago.

The 2011 census showed most ACT residents who moved house in the year before the census stayed in Canberra, at 59.2 per cent.

Slightly more than 12 per cent of people had moved to the ACT from overseas in the year prior to 2011.

The new data showed 79 per cent of Australians worked in the eastern mainland states and territories, while 99 per cent lived in the same state or territory in which they worked.

Canberra was an exception to the rule, with 87 per cent reporting they both lived and worked in the ACT.

People living in Australia's capital cities were almost twice as likely as residents of regional areas to hold a Bachelor degree or higher qualification, with 30 per cent in capitals and 16 per cent in the regions.

Nearly a quarter of people in regional areas hold a Certificate III & IV level qualification, compared with just 16 per cent of people in capital cities.

The gap in educational attainment between men and women has narrowed in the past decade, falling from 51 per cent for men and 42 per cent for women in 2006 to 58 per cent for men and 54 per cent for women last year.

The new data found a 27 per cent rise in the number of Canberrans with qualifications in the health field and a 19 per cent rise in the number of people employed in the health care and social assistance industry.

Health care and social assistance grew 18.8 per cent between 2011 and 2016 to become the second largest employment industry in the ACT, while retail trade fell by 1.6 per cent.

Community and personal service workers, which includes carers, hospitality workers and protective service officers, saw the largest growth in the period, increasing by 19 per cent.

The fields of society and culture were the most popular qualifications, with 43,000 people completing study in the field which includes political science, law and economics.

Fenner MP Andrew Leigh said the Coalition's cuts to the public service were showing up in census data.

"Earlier this year, we learnt that the number of public servants was at its lowest level since 2006," he said.

"Those who remain are suffering from ham-fisted decisions like the move to pork-barrel APVMA jobs to Barnaby Joyce's electorate."

More to come.