The self-selecting survey canvassed 3,300 LGBTI people across Australia from November 8-15. It was auspiced by advocacy groups PFLAG and just.equal, and designed by social scientist Dr Sharon Dane, who has previously published a study on the impacts of the Irish marriage referendum on the LGBTI community.

"The experience in Australia very much mirrors [Ireland]," she told BuzzFeed News. "The big issue is when you find out people who are close to you are not supportive. Even those people who felt they were fairly hardy weren’t prepared for how it was going to impact them when people started verbalising their opposition."

Dane added that the closing of the survey one hour prior to the result was deliberate.



"When we did the research in Ireland, it was a full year after the 'yes'," she said. "When you get a 'yes', there’s a temporary euphoria ... if you do a survey at that time, it'll bias in the other direction."

An Essential poll from November 14 found 45% of people thought the non-binding same-sex marriage survey was a bad process that should not be repeated, 27% a good process that should be used again, and 19% a good process that should, nevertheless, not be repeated.



Several mental health groups and charities have also raised concerns over the wellbeing of the LGBTI community over the course of the marriage vote.

Mental health service ReachOut had a 40% increase in requests from young LGBTI people asking for help, while Jo Ball, the CEO of Switchboard Victoria, told BuzzFeed News the LGBTI support service had experienced an increase of up to 35% in requests for support during the survey.

In response, Greens leader Richard Di Natale has called for the $20 million saved by the ABS going under its $122 million budget to be spent on mental health and counselling services.