The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey has begun this week, following the High Court’s decision to confirm the validity of the Survey. 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) started to mail out survey forms from 12 September, and the final result will be declared at 11:30am on 15 November 2017. 

However, since the process is conducted through ABS, not all usual safeguards under the Electoral Laws apply to this voting process. 

Following this concern, the Government has introduced the Marriage Law Survey (Additional Safeguards) Bill 2017 to the Senate to ensure additional safeguards against vilification, intimidation and threats to cause harm. 

According to Minister for Finance, the Hon. Mathias Cormann, the proposed Bill will provide further safeguards for views held in relation to the Survey in regards of “religious conviction, sexual orientation or gender identity or intersex status of a particular person or group”. 

“We have been exploring in good faith how we can complement existing legal protections under current laws,” he said. 

“This includes provisions to ensure relevant authorisations on advertisements, reasonable opportunity to have opposing views broadcast, offences against bribery and threats and the prohibition of misleading and deceptive conduct in relation to the completion of survey forms,” he added. 

The Australian Marriage Law will give all Australians on the Electoral Roll an opportunity to express their opinions freely. 

All Australians are encouraged to vote and have their say by returning their completed survey forms as quickly as possible.