The union representing Australian Bureau of Statistics staff says their members are worried the postal vote on same-sex marriage could politicise the independent agency.
The ABS has been assigned the job of running the postal ballot because the government could not get its compulsory plebiscite through parliament.
A task force has been set up within the ABS to conduct the ballot under the Census and Statistics Act.
Public sector union deputy secretary Melissa Donnelly said the agency was already under massive pressure, shown in the 2016 Census failure and issues with employment and other economic data.
The union had been contacted by a number of ABS staff concerned about the agency's ability to conduct a plebiscite, given its regular work and capacity constraints, and how the highly political process would undermine the independence of the agency, she said on Wednesday.
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More than 160 ABS staff have lost their jobs in the past nine months.
