MUMS and dads could face court for smacking their children, a major church has warned as it resists the push to ban corporal punishment in the home.

The 600,000-strong Presbyterian Church fears that parents could be stopped from using corporal punishment as yet another state moves to ban smacking.

Under a controversial human rights charter, Victoria will join NSW in outlawing the use of corporal punishment.

Under Queensland law, parents are allowed to use "reasonable force" when disciplining their children.

In a submission to a Victorian parliamentary inquiry, the church said that the charter could be used to dump the common law right to smack children provided force wasn't unreasonable or excessive.

"Many Australian families use reasonable physical discipline from time to time," the church said.

"There is a significant body of research confirming its utility in raising children well."

But Australian Childhood Foundation chief executive Dr Joe Tucci yesterday said it was never right to hit children and NSW's lead should be followed.

"If parents are really angry or frustrated at the time that they're doing it they could inadvertently hurt kids and that's our concern about it," he said.

"More and more parents are moving away from physical punishment because it's not effective."

However, adolescent psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said it was ridiculous to legislate against smacking.

"I don't think we should be criminalising people who, when their children run across the road, they give them a tap on the bum," he said.

Dr Carr-Gregg said he didn't believe smacking was the solution to bad behaviour, but attempts to ban it had not worked.

A recent study said that parents who smacked their children could be depriving them of the skills they needed to cope with school and even with adulthood.

The Presbyterian church submission said Australia was being pressured to ban corporal punishment by a United Nations committee overseeing implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.