Anthony Albanese prepares to govern in a more diverse parliament

Projections for Labor's caucus size following Saturday's election range from 72 to the 76 threshold needed to govern without needing to negotiate with the newly expanded crossbench.

The Electoral Commission's ballot count will continue this week in tight races as the Prime Minister-elect heads to a meeting of Quad nation leaders in Tokyo accompanied by his incoming Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Labor deputy leader Richard Marles, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher will also be sworn in on Monday.

The frontbenchers spent most of the day being briefed by their departmental secretaries on the challenges ahead.

Mr Marles was tight-lipped on Sunday about which portfolio he would take in the new Labor government.

Mr Albanese will decide his remaining frontbench after his return from the Quad when more results should be clear.

Among the first that must be chosen will include the now-vacant Home Affairs portfolio following the upset win of a popular local independent candidate in the multicultural Sydney seat of Fowler over Labor's high-profile candidate Kristina Keneally.

Ms Keneally conceded defeat on Sunday, congratulating Dai Le for her victory in Fowler, and Mr Albanese for his over Scott Morrison.

Recriminations have also broken out among Coalition frontbenchers, with the former deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce taking no responsibility for the Liberals' loss of five additional seats to the climate action championing teal independents.

Liberal moderate faction leader Simon Birmingham pointed to the marriage equality debate as a "turning point" and the 2019 loss of former prime minister Tony Abbott's former seat of Warringah as a warning not heeded. The party was now "paying the price", he said.

"You can go back to the same-sex marriage debate which dragged out unnecessarily long, but it should have been resolved by a simple conscience vote," the senator told Insiders.

Another turning point was on climate reductions in the energy sector, he said, where the Liberal Party could have locked in a policy "and put some of these matters behind us" with a degree of bipartisanship.

The failure to stand up for Liberal values and settle the climate wars earlier "has caused a significant price down the track".

Peter Dutton, the outbound defence minister and Scott Morrison's internal caucus rival for the last three years, is the heir-apparent for the Liberal leadership, but has many detractors.

The diminished moderate faction of the party want someone who can bring more women into the fold.

Senator Birmingham was not prepared to say who he would be looking to take over the party leadership.

But whoever put their hand up needed to have a clear picture of how to rebuild the party in the areas it lost on Saturday, he said, including supporting women in the parliament.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister-elect and his partner Jodie Haydon returned to Marrickville for a coffee stop on Sunday morning, where they were joined by new Labor MP for Reid Sally Sitou.

Ms Sitou wrested the seat off Liberal Fiona Martin, who appeared to confuse her for fellow Asian-Australian Labor member Tu Le during the campaign.

Ms Sitou would not be drawn on the failure of Labor candidate Kristina Keneally, parachuted into the multicultural Sydney seat of Fowler, but said her own victory proved voters wanted politicians who "reflect the community".

"There was a moment when I stood at Burwood train station, and a young woman came up to me and she said that she was of Laotian descent and she was incredibly proud to be able to vote for me," she told reporters.

"It was in that moment that I realised that my candidacy was something special, and that maybe the voters of Reid thought that as well."

Mr Marles said it was "too early" to say whether the loss in Fowler was the end of Ms Keneally's political career, but Labor would "work through the lessons of it".

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Ms Keneally conceded defeat on Sunday, congratulating independent candidate Dai Le for her victory in Fowler, and Mr Albanese for his over Scott Morrison.

The Electoral Commission's ballot count will continue this week in tight races as the Prime Minister-elect heads to a meeting of Quad nation leaders in Tokyo, accompanied by his incoming Foreign Minister Penny Wong.