Attorney general George Brandis has requested a meeting with LGBTI community leaders about the marriage plebiscite ahead of parliament resuming next week.
BuzzFeed News understands the attorney general's office contacted Australians 4 Equality, the umbrella group under which the "yes" campaign is coalescing, and asked it to bring together representatives from various LGBTI groups for a teleconference meeting on Thursday.
One representative each from groups including Australian Marriage Equality, Just Equal, PFLAG, and the NSW and Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobbies will attend.
In an email sent out by an A4E staff member, seen by BuzzFeed News, the meeting was referred to as "a consultation with the national community on the plebiscite".
"The attorney general has met with numerous stakeholder groups and will continue to do so to ensure all sides have their views represented and considered," a spokesperson for Brandis told BuzzFeed News.
A spokesperson for Australian Marriage Equality told BuzzFeed News AME did not see the meeting as a negotiation, but welcomed the opportunity to engage with Brandis on the issue.
"[This engagement] is not something that's necessarily happened in the past," they said.
"We oppose a plebiscite but it's important we continue to engage, because we don't have marriage equality yet."
The AME spokesperson said the group continued to stand by the joint statement it released with Australians 4 Equality and more than 60 other LGBTI groups last month, rejecting the government's plebiscite proposal.
The statement was released just hours after Brandis said "most of the gay groups" he has met with saw the plebiscite as the "surest and most immediate path for this outcome".
BuzzFeed News understands there was some dissent among LGBTI groups on the statement, with some interpreting it as a rejection of the current plebiscite proposal instead of a rejection of the plebiscite idea entirely.
Ivan Hinton-Teoh, who will attend the Thursday meeting on behalf of Just Equal, told BuzzFeed News he imagined it was called to negotiate terms around the plebiscite.
Several aspects of the legislation have been criticised by marriage equality proponents, including the $7.5 million in public funding for each side and the non-binding nature of the vote.
However, Hinton-Teoh said it was unlikely any groups would cave from their current opposition even if concessions were made.
"I can't imagine any group would, at this stage, participate enthusiastically in a negotiation about the plebiscite, knowing we have an opportunity to knock it on the head," he said.
Long-time marriage equality advocate Rodney Croome said he expected Brandis to seek points of compromise over the plebiscite at the meeting.
"I'm optimistic the LGBTI groups at the meeting will not endorse any compromises in regard to a plebiscite, and will insist on a free vote in parliament," he said.
A spokesperson for the Australian Christian Lobby, a leading group in the anti-same-sex marriage camp, would not confirm if their side of the debate had been invited to a similar meeting.
"We meet with politicians all the time but we respect the confidentiality of these meetings so cannot comment specifically on who we meet and the nature of the discussions," the spokesperson said.
In recent weeks, Labor leader Bill Shorten and deputy Tanya Plibersek have met with several members of the LGBTI community about the plebiscite.
Labor is expected to announce it will vote against the plebiscite legislation following its caucus meeting on Tuesday.
This will cement the death of the legislation in the senate.