Civil celebrants who oppose same-sex marriage would be allowed to refuse to officiate gay weddings under Attorney-General George Brandis' vision for marriage equality in Australia.
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The Turnbull government is also considering extra funding for mental health groups if a plebiscite on same-sex marriage goes ahead, a tacit admission the public vote has the potential to harm LGBTI people's mental wellbeing.
Senator Brandis will next week bring to the Coalition party room proposed amendments to the Marriage Act that would be enacted if a plebiscite is held and passed by the Australian people.
He told a teleconference of marriage equality advocates on Thursday his preferred position was to protect both religious ministers and civil celebrants from anti-discrimination law if they did not wish to officiate same-sex weddings.
Those protections would not be extended to service providers such as florists, hoteliers and bakers. But the Attorney-General's proposal will still need to win the backing of the conservative Coalition party room.
Senator Brandis also told Thursday's teleconference that extra funding for mental health groups was "under consideration" in the event that a plebiscite on same-sex marriage proceeded.
That would be an admission that the plebiscite has the potential to injure the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex and transgender people, as the nation's peak mental health body has emphatically warned.
Fairfax Media confirmed the account with multiple sources who participated in the teleconference between the Attorney-General and around 30 representatives from LGBTI groups on Thursday evening.
Not a single LGBTI representative made the case for a plebiscite, which appeared to "surprise" Senator Brandis, according to one source.
"He was prosecuting the case for a plebiscite very strongly," the source said. "I don't think it swayed any of the people around the table."
No negotiations on a plebiscite took place but Australian Marriage Equality co-chair Alex Greenwich said it was a "constructive" meeting nonetheless.
"I give great credit to the Attorney-General for engaging directly with the LGBTI community and hearing our concerns," he said.
Mr Greenwich told Senator Brandis: "Blocking a plebiscite will not achieve marriage equality and it will not stop our opponents campaigning."
Next week's Marriage Act amendments will reveal the Turnbull government's proposal for marriage equality in Australia, including the revised definition of marriage, which John Howard changed to exclude same-sex couples in 2004.
But at this stage, any changes to the Marriage Act are conditional on a successful plebiscite, with the government showing little sign of relenting and allowing a free vote in Parliament.
Senator Brandis, under fire over his fractious relationship with the country's chief legal adviser and facing accusations he misled Parliament, said a plebiscite was "the most credible and frankly the only available path" to marriage equality in the short-term.
"What is more important, the end or the means?" he asked on ABC radio on Thursday. "I think the end is more important."
A spokesman for the Attorney-General said the meeting was a welcome opportunity to meet with LGBTI groups and the Marriage Act amendments would be released prior to a parliamentary vote on the plebiscite.
