07:21

The government is set to delay a bill to improve processes for the postal survey on same-sex marriage after the Greens and marriage equality advocates warned that passing it may undermine the high court challenge against the vote.

Guardian Australia understands that the Human Rights Law Centre, representing Australian Marriage Equality and the Greens LGBTI spokeswoman Janet Rice in the challenge, has advised that passing a bill to set rules for the survey run by the Australian Bureau of Statistics could harm their chances in court.

Marriage equality advocates are to write to Labor, the Greens and crossbench warning them not to pass any bill prematurely. The Greens have already written to the government urging it to delay legislation.

On Wednesday the acting special minister of state, Mathias Cormann, told Guardian Australia:

The most likely timing for consideration of a bill to provide for additional legal safeguards ... to support the fair and proper conduct of [the survey] will be after the high court’s hearings on 5 and 6 September.

On Friday the Cormann contacted Labor and the Greens, offering to extend electoral law provisions for authorisations of ads and banning misleading information, fraud, bribery and intimidation to protect the survey.

At first the government suggested the bill could be presented to parliament this week. It has given the bill to Labor, which is considering its position, and crossbench parties.

No details of the bill are publicly available but Guardian Australia understands it extends basic electoral protections and goes no further.