Outspoken Justice Party founder Derryn Hinch appears to have lost his seat, with the number of conservative senators expected to increase.
While the final make-up of the upper house could take days to finalise, the likely new batch of senators is expected to be more open to talks with the Morrison government.
As counting continues after Saturday's election, it appears the Liberal-National coalition will need the backing of five out of six conservative crossbenchers to get its legislation through parliament.
Senator Hinch, who was elected three years ago, has conceded his chances of being re-elected are slim.
"It seems that Bill wasn't the only one to get the Shorten end of the stick," the former radio broadcaster quipped on Twitter.
The coalition's Senate numbers could rise from 31 to 34 out of 76 seats.
Three familiar faces look likely to re-join the Senate after being knocked out by the dual citizenship debacle that plagued the previous parliament.
Labor's Katy Gallagher, One Nation's Malcolm Roberts in Queensland and Jacqui Lambie in Tasmania are set to be returned to the red chamber.
Jacqui Lambie looks set to return to Parliament. Source: AAP
Senator Hinch is among 10 incumbents on the way out, including Lisa Singh and Gavin Marshall (Labor), Ian Macdonald, Jim Molan, Lucy Gichuhi (Liberals), Steve Martin (Nationals), Peter Georgiou (One Nation), Fraser Anning (Conservative Nationals) and Duncan Spender (Liberal Democrats).
Centre Alliance's Skye Kakoschke-Moore, who left parliament in the dual-citizenship scandal, also failed to win back her seat in South Australia.
Greens maintain numbers
The Greens appear to have won a Senate seat in every state, keeping the minor party's numbers at nine.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has been re-elected in South Australia, declaring she's "more energised and determined than ever".
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has been re-elected. Source: AAP
"I can't wait to get back to Canberra to protect the Bight from big oil, and fight for more water for the Murray and climate action," Senator Hanson-Young tweeted.
Excluding the Greens, the number of minor parties and independents on the crossbench has been cut from 10 to six.
Labor won a net 13 seats.
Tens of millions of dollars Clive Palmer spent advertising his United Australia Party don't seem to have paid off, failing to translate into winning any seats.
In Tasmania, the Liberals and Labor look set to hold two seats each and Greens incumbent Nick McKim to return.
The coalition is likely to retain three seats in both NSW and Victoria and Labor another two, with the Greens probably taking the final seat in each state.
It's a similar story in South Australia, where the major parties will take two seats each and the Greens' Sarah Hanson-Young will hold on, with the final seat probably also going to the Liberals.
And in the two territories, ACT and NT, the status quo will prevail with Labor and the Liberals taking one seat each.
Additional reporting by AAP
