The Statistical Society of Australia (SSA) has delivered a withering assessment of the government's national postal survey on same-sex marriage, saying a simple opinion poll would have been a better measure for gauging the views of all Australians on the issue.



Sixteen million survey forms have been sent to eligible voting Australians with the question: "Do you support a change in the law to allow same-sex couples to marry?" They are due to be returned by November 7, with a result by November 15.

If a "yes" vote is victorious, the government will allow a bill for same-sex marriage to be debated in parliament, while a "no" vote will see any future attempts at reform continue to be blocked.

In a media statement on Wednesday, the SSA criticised the survey, saying it would not reflect the views of all Australians, and could damage the reputation of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The statement is signed by SSA president, Professor Scott Sisson, and the chair of the SSA media and communications committee, Dr Peter Baker.

"If the aim was to understand the views of all Australians, an opinion survey would be more appropriate," it reads. "With a proper survey design and analysis, public opinion can be reliably estimated to a specified accuracy.

"It is the professional opinion of the SSA, the body representing professional statisticians in Australia, that a perhaps more useful government direction could have asked the Australian Statistician to collect statistics to estimate the proportion of all Australians in favour of or against same-sex marriage.



"Such a direction would avoid any chance of misinterpretation, and would arguably be more useful for decision making in terms of understanding the views of Australians as a whole."