The Australian Bureau of Statistics has considered alternative ways to fund the same-sex marriage postal survey if the High Court rules against it.
The court will hand down its finding on the survey at 2.15pm AEST on Thursday, after marriage equality advocates argued the government does not have the legal power to spend $122 million on it without parliamentary approval.
Australian Statistician David Kalisch, whose agency is running the survey, told a Senate inquiry his agency had given some thought about alternative funding options.
"We've had some conversations with other parties across government - primarily with the Department of Finance," he said.
The ABS had included in its list of "risks" the need to consider funding implications "should there not be adequate funding".
The ABS was also looking at the nature of some of its contractual arrangements.
Finance department deputy secretary Stein Helgeby declined to comment on what advice had been provided, saying the mechanics of funding the survey were being considered by the court.
"We will have (High Court) orders later today ... we are providing ongoing support for the minister," he said.
Mr Kalisch said at least $14.1 million had been spent to date, but this did not include a Department of Human Services call centre which has received more than 81,000 calls or the cost of updating the electoral roll.
Forms, letters and envelopes had been printed and were ready to be sent out on Tuesday, with the aim of getting all forms delivered by September 25.
A second media campaign, due to be launched on Sunday at a cost of $15 million, will focus on how the survey will operate and what people need to do to participate.
Labor senators quizzed officials on what checks were in place to stop offensive and misleading material from being distributed during the survey.
The committee heard Finance Minister Mathias Cormann intended to provide similar checks to those which applied during elections.
Under questioning from Labor senator Jenny McAllister, the Australian Electoral Commission admitted some voters who received letters relating to automatic enrolment updates would not have had their addresses automatically updated because of the shorter-than-usual time frame given for the close of the roll.
Mr Kalisch said anyone in this position could contact the ABS and a survey form could be sent to their latest address.
However, they would still need to change their address on the roll before any future election.
The AEC has yet to send its bill to the ABS for what was described as "hundreds and hundreds of staff working overtime and weekends" to update the electoral roll.
Share
