The elections, which are set to involve roughly 53,000 voters, were originally scheduled to take place on May 2 but were pushed back to May 30 as the coronavirus crisis intensified.

Attorney-General Elise Archer said this morning that the state government did not believe the elections should be postponed indefinitely and that it was aiming for them to be held before the upper house next sat on Tuesday, August 25.

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But she also said the government would not hesitate to defer the elections again if necessary.

"The people of Huon and Rosevears ... need to be represented and we want to minimise that time that they are not represented," Ms Archer said.

"[But] we must ... ensure that the strongest measures are in place to minimise any risk of coronavirus infection."

Ms Archer said Public Health Services had told the government that it was not "advisable" to open polling booths under the current circumstances.

The state's Constitution Act dictates that Legislative Council elections must be held on a Saturday in May.

However, the Public Health Act allows for the elections to be deferred "in these unprecedented circumstances", Ms Archer said.

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Opposition Leader Rebecca White said Labor had first called for the elections to be deferred more than two weeks ago.

"It was always clear that asking people to turn out for elections was incompatible with social distancing requirements and advice for people to stay at home," she said.

Ms White said it appeared "optimistic at this point" to be aiming to open the polls before August.

"The safety of the community must come first," she said.

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