Jobs at breweries also increased by 50 per cent in the latest census.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the second tranche of results from its 2021 national survey on Wednesday, shining a light on emerging work habits.

Software and application programmers now appear in the top 20 occupations, with security science the fastest-growing field of study.

Female representation is gradually increasing in construction while women constitute the overwhelming majority of teachers and early educators.

More than half of Australians have a vocational or tertiary qualification – a 20 per cent increase since 2016 – and qualifications in Southern Asian languages have more than doubled in that time.

People born overseas are more likely to have a non-school qualification than those born in Australia.

Four big industries – health care, retail, construction and education – make up 40 per cent of the workforce.

Sales assistants, registered nurses and general clerks remain the top three occupations.

The accommodation and food industry has the youngest workforce while agriculture, forestry and fishing have the oldest.