The Victorian Government denies it is on a collision course with religious groups over moves to allow gay couples to adopt children.

Equality Minister Martin Foley said legislation to keep the election promise to remove discrimination against adoption for same-sex couples would be introduced in a "timely manner".

Many of the same-sex couples who would want to adopt already care for the children in foster care and blended family arrangements.

"We have thousands of families out there in the real world in a legal haze, facing day-to-day difficulties when it comes to hospitals, schools, their rights," Mr Foley said.

"[It's] just an institutional form of discrimination that says somehow or other their loving families are of lesser value."

But the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has pushed for faith-based exemptions so that religious groups can refuse to place a child with same-sex couples.

In its submission on the bill, the ACL said there should be "robust protections for adoption agencies to act in good faith meeting the best interests of the children".

Allowing same-sex adoption "ignores the best interests of children and violates their right to be raised by a mother and father", the submission said.

Mr Foley said it was "hardly a good outcome" if they agreed to exemptions because it would be "instituting lesser forms of discrimination".

He said no other religious group had voiced any objection to the proposed laws and rejected suggestions from the Christian group's director, Dan Flynn, that an exemption would recognise religious freedom without really affecting gay adoptions.

"For Mr Flynn to say that this will have zero impact on gay couples is offensive," he said.

"This sort of devaluing of loving families is rubbish in 2015."