From an ambitious pledge to end homelessness in the ACT by 2025, to a plan to introduce express light rail services that was dismissed as impossible by Labor.

But after winning a record six seats, beyond what most in the party even dared to dream of, there will be real pressure achieve what could be passed off as pipe dreams.

The Legislative Assembly on Tuesday sat for its first non-ceremonial sitting since the election, with a distinct Greens tinge to the front bench.

There are now three Greens ministers - Emma Davidson, Rebecca Vassarotti and leader Shane Rattenbury - making up a third of cabinet.

They have promised a new era of collaboration and a fresh approach to politics.

But it's uncharted waters for the party; they are not just holding the balance of power but have the same proportional influence on cabinet as powerful Labor factions.

So will they really be able to "build a better normal" or will they get caught up in the wheels of government.

The Greens had one of the most effective campaign slogans of the election campaign; building a better normal.

The new MLAs have pledged to live out his motto over the next four years of government.

Davidson - the new mental health and disability minister - says this term of Parliament will be unlike any ever seen in the ACT.

"How could it not be different?" she says.

"I think the Greens bring something to the way we do government and the way we do politics that's different to what Labor and Liberals are doing in this space.

"I think we're gong to see quite a quantum leap ahead over the next four years, because there's more of us, and we've got more experience collectively as an organisation."

Critics of the Greens will be sceptical about how much they will actually do differently from the major parties, now they were playing such a big role in government, and whether they would really stick their necks out.

Take for example the party's first question time for the year.

The Greens have traditionally baulked at the practice of asking Dorthy Dixers - a planted question to a minister from one of the government's own backbenchers.

In states like Queensland and Tasmania, the party has rallied to have them banned, accusing the governments there of wasting valuable time by asking them.

But within minutes of the first question time on Wednesday, the Greens had already thrown in three planted questions to leader Shane Rattenbury.

The party has been elected on doing politics differently and rejecting the path of the major parties.

But now being so embedded in a government, it runs the risk of abandoning the principles that got it elected.

Leader Shane Rattenbury already knows having a seat at the table of government does not automatically lead to easy outcomes.

Last parliamentary term, he oversaw troubled ministries, including mental health and corrective services.

They were troubled long before he took them over.

But it showed there were no quick fixes, no magic changes to come from a Green in the ministry.

Just this week, a report on Canberra's prison highlighted serious government failings; from irregular procurement, poor training of staff, woefully out of date policies, and dangerous facilities.

Canberra's mental health system has well-documented problems at both the acute and community end.

There are long waits to be seen at Canberra Hospital while non-acute services are often siloed, and patients struggle with long wait lists.

Davidson says she will be focused on improving the connectivity and communication between Canberra's public and private mental health services.

She says it's clear the system needs to be easier to navigate.

"If we want to have a city where people can really have a full and meaningful life and be able to achieve the things they want to achieve, then we have to be able to take a more holistic view of a person's life and make sure they can get access to health services that can help their mental health and physical health and at the same time look at their housing situation, for example," she says.

"That understanding that if you're going to solve complex problems like homelessness you can't do that in isolation of mental health or people who are experiencing violence."

Vassarotti says by definition, there will be a much more collaborative government on show over the next four years.

She has been given the challenging ministries of housing and homelessness, building quality, environment and heritage.

"One of the challenges of government is often that it is really siloed and it looks at issues in isolation," she says.

"This is a government which will have to work closely together, we will have to collaborate.

"With Greens in the cabinet, we are bringing different ideas and approaches, so it is going to change.

"My experience is that when we bring different perspectives to the table, while it sometimes take a little more time, we generally get much better outcomes."

She says the Greens ministers all have deep community connections and experience, understanding how policy affects the real world.

Vassarotti is tasked with one of the Greens' most ambitious pledges; to end home homelessness in the ACT by 2025.

It raises the obvious questions; is it actually achievable or does it have echoes of Bob Hawke's off-the-cuff pledge in 1987 that no child would be living in poverty in three years' time.

"I believe we need to be ambitious," she says.

"I don't shy away from the fact that it's not going to be easy.

"But I think putting it on the table and setting an ambitious target is really important.

"Without a home, it's hard to get anything right.

"if we cant achieve that in Canberra, in one of the most affluent communities in Australia ... we really need to reflect deeply."

She said housing supply was an issue, but the specialist homelessness sector needed more support and resources.

"The other issue is we know people who are experiencing homelessness generally have a whole lot of complexity in their lives," Vassarotti says.

The Greens have promised a new way of doing government, and the community will be wanting to see outcomes.

The Greens' dominance at the October election was partly down to luck and the unpredictability of the Hare-Clarke system.

A handful fewer votes or a different flow of preferences could have seen them with far fewer MLAs in the chamber.

But if they are able to prove to the community Greens in the government leads to a fairer and more equitable Canberra, their future could be somewhat more certain.

The next four years will be about convincing Canberrans they built a better normal, not maintained the status quo.