A parliamentary debate over the precise wording of the Voice referendum text looks set to kick off in March, with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus promising there will be "ample time" for the discussion.
Section 128 of the Constitution says any proposal to change the nation's founding legal document must first pass both houses of parliament, then be put to the people between two and six months later.
Mr Dreyfus said both the referendum question that will be printed on ballot papers and the proposed edits to the Constitution itself will be up for debate.
"There'll be ample time to debate the form of the question. And what the sentences – what the changes to be included in the Constitution actually are," he told 7.30.
The government has already confirmed the referendum will be held in the second half of 2023. The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has previously said this enabling legislation would likely come in March.
Asked by Laura Tingle on 7.30 if the bill would come within the next "couple of months", Mr Dreyfus replied: "Yes."
Both houses of parliament are sitting for most of March, before a break until the budget in May.
One of Anthony Albanese's first acts as prime minister was to suggest some draft wording for both the question and the constitutional amendments.
Speaking at the Garma festival of Indigenous culture in July last year, Mr Albanese suggested the question be: "Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?"
He also floated three sentences that could be inserted in the Constitution:
1. There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
2. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to parliament and the executive government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
3. The parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
The 'yes' and 'no' campaigns, which will not receive taxpayer funding, are both expected to formally launch in February.
The government's decision to let the two camps do their own fundraising means this referendum will be fought on different terms to the last referendum in 1999, where each side was given a taxpayer-funded war chest.
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