It is the first time a candidate not from either major party has represented the capital in Parliament.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher was also re-elected comfortably, the first to reach the quota for election of 95,073 votes.

The Australian Electoral Officer for the AEC, David Molnar, said the distribution of preferences was conducted today.

"As with all aspects of the count, the automated distribution of preferences undertaken today was open to scrutineers appointed by the candidates," Mr Molnar said.

In the final round of preference distribution, Greens candidate Dr Tjanara Goreng Goreng was eliminated and her 36,145 votes were redistributed to Mr Pocock and Mr Seselja. Mr Pocock received 77 per cent of those votes which pushed him over quota, while Mr Seselja was 13,588 votes short.

Mr Seselja, who served in the Senate for nine years and was appointed as Minister for International Development and the Pacific.

The former senator released a statement congratulating the re-elected senator Gallagher and senator-elect Pocock who confirmed that Mr Seselja called to offer his congratulations shortly after the AEC announcement.

"I extend my congratulations to Katy Gallagher and David Pocock on the honour of being elected to represent the ACT in the Australian Senate, and to Senator Gallagher on her appointment as Australia's Finance Minister," Mr Seselja wrote.

"There is no greater privilege than serving your community and your country. It is a heavy responsibility."

He said it was a "bitter blow" for the Liberals to lose the seat.

The result means the Liberals now have no federal representation in the ACT, the first time that has happened since the ACT has had representation in the Parliament.

Mr Pocock thanked the community for their overwhelming support.

"Today, the extraordinary movement of people we brought together across the ACT made history," Mr Pocock said.

"For the first time, we have an independent voice representing our community in the federal parliament.

"I congratulate senator Katy Gallagher on her re-election, and subsequent ministerial appointments, and look forward to working collaboratively in service to the people we have been elected to represent.

"I also acknowledge the work of outgoing ACT Senator Seselja after nine years representing us and wish him and his family all the best.

"Thank you to everyone who put their trust in me to represent you. It is an incredible honour to be able to serve a community I love."

"Our campaign aimed to make politics about people. We built a policy platform off the back of thousands of conversations about the things that matter.

"We kept it positive. We talked about the issues and the ideas for the future we want and It clearly resonated.

"I am committed to being accessible and accountable to Canberrans. I'd love you to come to my first quarterly town hall on 20 July to continue the conversation.

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"Thank you to the more than 2200 Team Pocock volunteers. And thank you to the entire ACT community.

"You have helped create something special here in the ACT. You have shown what democracy can be.

"And this is hopefully just the beginning."

Crossbenchers joined the rounds of congratulations on social media for the newly elected senator. Warrangah MP Zali Steggall cheered for Canberra's new independent voice in the Senate.

"Young people are a big part of this groundswell for change, and now the ACT has its champion," Ms Steggall tweeted.

The leaders of both major parties in the ACT extended their congratulations too, with Chief Minister Andrew Barr declaring the election of Katy Gallagher and David Pocock to the Senate as "the start of a new era in Commonwealth-Territory relations".

Mr Barr, who sparred frequently with Mr Seselja on territory rights, infrastructure and housing policies, said the former senator often used his role in the Senate to attack the ACT government.

"In hindsight, he might regret that more was not achieved for the ACT over the last decade," the chief minister said.

"Politics is a tough business and Zed played the game as hard as anyone. Nevertheless, there were some areas of shared progress and I thank him for those outcomes.

"I wish him and his family all the best for what comes next."

Mr Barr said he recently met with incoming senator Pocock to discuss issues raised during the campaign, and looked forward to significant progress on their shared goals.

Elizabeth Lee, leader of the Canberra Liberals and opposition leader in the ACT, also congratulated Mr Pocock via social media.

"Congratulations and I look forward to working with you for the good people of the ACT," she tweeted.

Mr Pocock, best known for rugby and his term as a Wallaby captain, had to renounce his Zimbabwe and South African citizenships in order to stand for election, and has campaigned on climate action, integrity and territory rights since announcing his candidacy.

The electoral commission will make its official result declaration for the ACT Senate on Wednesday morning, confirming the result already revealed in the preferences distribution.

Moderate members within Canberra Liberals branches will push for fresh reforms aimed at renewal, following Tuesday's confirmation of Senator Zed Seselja's defeat.

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