Politicians, social commentators and parents rallied on the steps of State Parliament today calling for an end to child beauty pageants.

With children holding signs such as 'babies not Barbies' and 'affection not perfection', speakers labelled such contests abhorrent, with no place in Australian society.

America's top child beauty pageant star Eden Wood, seen in a picture from her Facebook page.

Organiser Catherine Manning, a childhood educator and mother of four, said she organised the rally ahead of upcoming high-glitz pageant in Melbourne, scheduled for late July, because she was “quite alarmed this type of pageant could become quite ingrained in Australian culture”.

Anger about child beauty pageants has heightened after the controversial US television show Toddlers and Tiaras.