Australia's highest court has begun hearing petitions against a national vote on same-sex marriage. Two separate petitions by same-sex marriage advocates will be heard in the High Court of Australia today and tomorrow. Both the petitions argue that the vote is invalid because its funding was not allocated through a normal parliamentary process. <br/><br/>The government unlocked 122 million Australian dollars for the survey through an act allowing it to fund initiatives determined to be urgent and unforeseen. <br/><br/>The government plans to hold a non-binding postal survey from 12th September to gauge support for changing Australia's law to allow same-sex marriage. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said, the vote could lead to the tabling of a bill in parliament later this year.