Call to boost counselling during survey

The government should boost funding for counselling during the same-sex marriage survey campaign, a Senate inquiry has been told.

The federal government should provide extra funding for gay and lesbian support and counselling organisations as the marriage survey campaign turns hateful, a Senate inquiry has been told.

The NSW Gay and Lesbian Lobby told the inquiry it was important the campaign be run under rules similar to those that operate during an election - which is now being considered by the federal parliament.

But the organisation said it already seen a flood of offensive messages ahead of survey forms being posted to 16 million voters.

"Suchmaterial hassignificantimpacton thementalhealthofsomanyLGBTIQAustralians," it said in a written submission.

"YoungLGBTIQpeopleareatasixtimes greaterriskofsuicide andthismaterialwhichperpetuateshatefulandoffensive commentsisnotlikelytoimprovethissituation."

The organisation included in its submission 11 examples of posters and pamphlets which vilify gay and lesbian people, and a series of explicit emails, text messages and social media posts directly targeting staff members.

One of the offensive posters states: "Gay couples are over 30 times more likely to molest children."