Election 2016: Zed Seselja and Katy Gallagher on track to claim ACT Senate spots

With just over half of votes counted, Labor had won 38 per cent of the vote, with a swing of 3.75 per cent and the Liberals claiming 32 per cent, with a swing of -1.22 per cent.

Ms Gallagher said she predicted a challenging period ahead for any major party that had to negotiate with what looked likely to be a "messy Senate".

"What the double dissolution election has done is instead of providing, supposedly, stability in the Senate, it's created a much more, I think, polarised Senate.

"For any major party, it will be a very difficult Senate to navigate but you've got to deal with what the people have voted for, so at the end of the day you've got to front up to work and deal with it."

Ms Gallagher, who was elected with a 3.75 per cent swing in her favour, rejected Mr Seselja's claims Labor had taken its Senate seat for granted, saying there was "no such thing" as a safe seat anymore.

"You can't take your electorate for granted," Ms Gallagher said.

"I think if anyone ever across the country treats their seat with complacency, a la Peter Hendy, people will respond.

"People are prepared to change their votes at every election."

Ms Gallagher, who has contested four ACT Legislative Assembly elections, spent Sunday dropping her daughter at the airport for a gap year in the UK.

She also spoke to Bill Shorten, praising his campaign, Ms Gallagher said. The Labor leader had "run rings around Malcolm Turnbull" and had her full support, she said.

On Sunday, Mr Seselja was quietly confident he would be returned to the Senate.

"Obviously the national result is still very tight, but I'm very hopeful. I think the signs are good for us in the way that certainly postals tend to go and I would think it's highly likely that we will form a majority government," he told Fairfax Media.

"Locally, I think we've really secured the Senate seat. I think it was seen as under threat and we treat it as a marginal seat.

"I would think it's a very positive result in the face of I think a 3 per cent national swing against the Coalition."

He accused the Labor Party of taking the ACT for granted and said they had not run a strong local election campaign.

"They were virtually silent, and they obviously retained the seat easily, they do take it for granted and I guess that's something for voters to think about, about whether they are well served by those local Labor members," he said.

"Certainly from the Greens, it was a highly negative and personal campaign and I don't think voters really responded very well to that. The Greens are probably the biggest losers here when you consider over the past two elections, we now potentially have seen their vote go backwards.

"I think it does show many people in the community are rejecting the Greens' policy offerings."

Greens candidate Christina Hobbs had all but conceded defeat on Sunday, with a Facebook post to her supporters saying winning a seat was a "steep road ahead from here".

As of Sunday, the Greens had gathered more than 26,000 – 17 per cent – of the votes, but fell short of the number needed to win one of the ACT's two Senate seats.

There was a swing against the Greens of -2.25 per cent.

"The results that have come in at the moment for the Senate are mixed for us," Ms Hobbs said. "As was always a possibility, it looks like the popularity of the Labor candidate has increased her vote at the expense of our primary, but we are also seeing what is looking to be the lowest ever vote for the Liberal Party in Canberra."

"Under the old voting system, we'd be in a strong position with Labor and the Greens together pulling a good vote. However, under the new system, with the scattering of preferences, it's going to be a steep road ahead from here."

Ms Hobbs praised the work of her team and the Greens' election campaign.

"We were up against it at this election with the most popular politician ever in Canberra running at her first election in the Labor Senate seat, and probably the most expensive election campaign we've ever seen from the Libs," Ms Hobbs said.

"Overall the strength of our campaign can be seen in the good swings towards us in both of the lower house seats of Fenner and Canberra. In Fenner we are currently up around 2 per cent and the Libs are down 2 per cent.

"No matter the outcome of the days ahead, everyone should be incredibly proud to be part of this campaign, the momentum we're building, the conversations we've had and the strength of the party leading into the October election."

A relaxed looking Senator Seselja planned to spend Sunday enjoying a barbecue with his family and the volunteers who worked on his campaign.

Senator Seselja said going forward, he planned to deliver on the election promises he had made.

This included a $76 million lake clean-up program, basing federal public servants in Gungahlin for the first time and funding for the Monaro Highway.