The ACT has the fastest growing population of children in Australia, but the number of people migrating from overseas and interstate is slipping, new data shows.
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In the year ending June 30, 2019, the national capital had the largest percentage increase in the number of children of any state or territory - 1.9 per cent compared with the previous year.
Victoria laid claim to the second-largest increase at 1.3 per cent, while the Northern Territory was the only jurisdiction with a decrease; 1 per cent. For Bonner mother-of-two, Gurleen Kaur, the Australian Bureau of Statistics' December findings came as no surprise.
She joined her husband, Arish Sodhi, in Canberra in 2014. Her eldest son, Waris Sodhi, was born in 2016. while her youngest son, Shaan Sodhi, was born in March this year.
"When we didn't have kids we just heard about Canberra, but the kind of facilities that are available here and the [quality of] education make it the best place to bring up kids," Mrs Kaur said.
"We moved to Melbourne [for a short time in 2016] but after [seeing] the traffic, and even the crime, we thought we should come back.
"I feel Canberra is much safer than any other city."
Rebecca Bowen, who also lives in Bonner, said she moved from Sydney in 2017 to join her husband after he was posted to Canberra for the Defence Force.
The couple had their first child, Charlotte Bowen, in September this year. If they had more children, they would want to raise them in the ACT, Mrs Bowen said.
"We're hoping to stick around for [Charlotte's] school years because I know ... [the schools in Canberra] are supposed to be very good," she said.
"The hospital system and the public health system here are really good [in terms of] maternity care as well."
Despite the attraction for prospective parents, the ACT saw the most drastic decline in net overseas migrant arrivals of any state or territory in 2018-19 - a percentage decrease of 11.4 per cent compared with the previous year.
NSW had the second-largest percentage decrease at only 0.7 per cent.
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The number of overseas migrants leaving the ACT increased by 3.6 per cent in 2018-19, while the net loss from interstate migration was about 200 people.
Mrs Bowen said while Canberrans and their interstate family circles were well aware of what the capital had to offer, other people across the border might be oblivious.
"You get more space [in the ACT] than what you would in Sydney," she said.
As of June 30, 2019, the median age in the national capital was 35; the second-lowest of all of Australia's states and territories. Tasmania had the highest median age of 42, as many young adults opted to migrate out of the state to the mainland.
ABS Demography Director Beidar Cho said Australia's total population grew by 1.5 per cent in the 2018-19 financial year. The ACT's population grew by 6,300 people to a total 426,700.
"[Australia's] population at June 30, 2019 was 25.4 million people, following an annual increase of 381,600 people," Mr Cho said.
The number of people aged 85 or older in the ACT increased by 2.9 per cent in the year ending June 30.