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Labor leader Chris Minns has been sworn in as the 47th premier of NSW, alongside Prue Car, the second woman to become deputy premier of the state.

While Liberal gains in key seats have dampened Labor's hopes for a majority government, the interim Minns ministry took the reins of government at a small ceremony at Government House on Tuesday.

A handful of close family and staffers were there to witness Governor Margaret Beazley urge the eight MPs to savour the "unique moment" in their lives.

The enormity of the occasion showed on the 43-year-old premier's face as he raised his eyebrows at wife Anna after taking his oath.

"We don't know the final composition of the next parliament but my team and I are ready to hit the ground running," he later told reporters.

"We know there's a huge responsibility on our shoulders and work starts today."

Ms Car became the second woman to become deputy NSW premier after Carmel Tebbutt, while also taking the education and early learning portfolio.

Daniel Mookhey is treasurer, former opposition leader Michael Daley is attorney-general, Jo Haylen has the transport portfolio while Penny Sharpe is environment and heritage minister.

Ryan Park is health minister while John Graham has responsibility for roads, arts, and is special minister of state.

The full ministry is expected to be sworn in next week once the parliament's final make-up is clear.

Labor needs 47 seats to have a lower house majority but was stuck on 45 on Tuesday morning as the coalition pushed ahead in eight of the seats still in doubt.

Liberal candidates leapfrogged Labor's early leads in Goulburn, Terrigal, Winston Hills, Holsworthy and Miranda on Monday.

Labor's lead in Kiama is also slipping away with the seat likely to fall to independent Gareth Ward on Tuesday, according to the ABC's chief election analyst Antony Green.

"All the inside information I have says that Gareth Ward will win Kiama so Labor can't reach a majority," he tweeted.

Mr Ward, a former Liberal minister, was dumped from the party and suspended from parliament last year after being charged with historical sexual and indecent assault offences.

As counting continues in the tightly-contested race, Mr Ward pleaded not guilty in Nowra District Court on Tuesday to five charges.

Another potential seat was shaved from Labor's column late on Monday, as the party's candidate for Balmain Philippa Scott conceded to new Greens MP Kobi Shetty.

Labor remains about 230 votes ahead as counting continues in Ryde.

The swearing-in ceremony allows for departments to start formally briefing the state's first Labor government in 12 years.

Early priorities are the Menindee fish kills, the northern NSW flood recovery and transport issues that have caused repeated delays on the state's train network.

The new premier spent two hours in a briefing with former premier Dominic Perrottet on Monday as the pair continue their friendly relationship.

Later, Mr Minns made a midnight visit to Sydney's Westmead Hospital, where he met with nurses and paramedics working the overnight shift.

He also visited the children's ward, leaving notes for children to give to their teachers, saying they did not have to do their homework because they were sick.

After Mr Perrottet's resignation as Liberal leader, former planning minister Anthony Roberts, former attorney-general Mark Speakman, and former trade minister Alister Henskens have emerged as leading contenders for the vacant Liberal Party leadership.

Moderates Matt Kean and James Griffin have bowed out of the race.

The incoming government was given a political boost when a trio of independents - Alex Greenwich, Greg Piper and Joe McGirr - promised confidence and supply, if Labor cannot form a majority.

Early counts show Labor will win eight seats in the upper house, the coalition six, the Greens two, and one seat for One Nation.

Remaining votes and preference flows will decide the last four seats that were up for election.

© AAP 2023

A woman armed with several guns has opened fire at a private Christian school in Nashville she once attended, killing three children and three adults before police killed her.

The woman was carrying at least two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun, police said.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department began receiving calls at 10.13am on Monday of a shooter at The Covenant School, which teaches primary school-age children. Officers arriving on the scene reported hearing gunfire coming from the school's second floor, police spokeman Don Aaron told reporters.

Two officers from a five-member team shot the assailant in a lobby area, and she was pronounced dead by 10.27am.

"The police department response was swift," Aaron said.

Police Chief John Drake later described the suspect as a 28-year-old woman from the Nashville area who "at one point was a student at this school". But her identity was not immediately made public.

Deadly mass shootings have become commonplace in the United States in recent years, but a female attacker is highly unusual. Only four of 191 mass shootings cataloged since 1966 by The Violence Project, a nonprofit research centre, were carried out by a female attacker.

Reacting to the shooting in Washington, US President Joe Biden urged Congress again to pass more gun reform legislation.

"It's sick," he said, addressing the issue during an event at the White House.

"We have to do more to protect our schools so they aren't turned into prisons ... I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban."

Three students were pronounced dead after arriving at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt with gunshot wounds, hospital spokesman John Howser said in a statement. Three adult staff members were killed by the shooter, police said.

Besides the deceased, no one else was shot.

Students' parents were told to gather at a nearby church.

The Covenant School, founded in 2001, is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in the Green Hills neighbourhood of Nashville with about 200 students, according to the school's website. The school serves preschool through sixth graders and held an active shooter training program in 2022, WTVF-TV reported.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper expressed sympathy for the victims and wrote on social media that his city "joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting".

There have been 89 school shootings - defined as anytime a gun is discharged on school property - in the US so far in 2023, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, a website founded by researcher David Riedman.

There were 303 such incidents last year, the highest of any year in the database, which goes back to 1970.

© RAW 2023

NSW Premier-elect Chris Minns and his interim ministry will be sworn in after Labor's convincing win at the state election, as the Liberals look to find a new leader and counting continues.

Mr Minns will be sworn in as Labor's first premier in 12 years, alongside several women making up part of his cabinet, including Prue Car as deputy premier and education minister, Jo Haylen as transport minister and Penny Sharpe as environment minister..

Vote counting will continue, with Labor's grip on a majority now unsteady.

Labor needs 47 seats to form a lower house majority but remained stagnant on 45 on Monday afternoon as the coalition made gains in many of the 12 seats still in doubt.

Labor's informal contact with department bosses, including Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Michael Coutts-Trotter, started on Monday.

Treasurer-elect Daniel Mookhey said the government was keen to fully understand matters, including the northern NSW flood recovery and transport issues that have caused repeated delays on the state's train network.

"Equally, we are looking forward to getting the briefing on Menindee - the fish kills is a big part of our immediate priority," Mr Mookhey said on Monday.

Work on Labor's much-touted promise to institute a road toll cap could begin as soon as a roads minister is appointed.

Key seats such as Kiama, which Labor could nab from former disgraced Liberal MP Gareth Ward, and Ryde where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese campaigned on election day are still in play.

Former planning minister Anthony Robert has emerged as the leading contender for the Liberal leadership in opposition, with moderates Matt Kean and James Griffin bowing out of the race.

The incoming government has also been given a political boost with a trio of independents - Alex Greenwich, Greg Piper and Joe McGirr - in the crossbench promising a strong and consultative working relationship with Mr Minns.

The upper house's 21 of 42 seats were up for election.

With nearly 60 per cent of total votes counted, early counts show Labor will win eight seats, the coalition six, the Greens two, and one seat for One Nation.

Remaining votes and preference flows will decide the last four seats.

© AAP 2023