A parliamentary balance of power held by the Greens would preference stable, effective and progressive government, party leader Adam Bandt says.
Voters have told Mr Bandt they haveve voted for the Greens for the first time this election not only because of climate action but because they didn't see many key policy differences between the government and the opposition.
As polls started to close on Saturday night, Mr Bandt was confident the minor party would pick up spots in the Senate as well as a couple of lower house, inner-city seats.
"People understand that we've got to act on climate and they've seen a government not acting and ... we're going to see that playing out in a number of ways tonight," he told Sky News on Saturday.
"A big part of our approach has been to say, 'We want to change the government too' and you vote Greens to change the government."
If the Greens do hold the balance of power on the crossbench, they would approach the parliament with an open mind, Mr Bandt pledged.
"It's stable and effective and progressive government that would be our priority with action on climate and action on inequality," he said.
The Greens held the balance of power along with independents on the crossbench following a hung parliament at the 2010 election.