A Melbourne author has criticised election campaign tactics used by the Australian Christian Lobby, including linking her picture book for transgender children to support for a controversial anti-bullying program.

Mother and advocate for transgender children Jo Hirst said the political lobby organisation had used her 2015 book The Gender Fairy on an election flyer opposing Labor's education policy, including a continuation of the Safe Schools program.

The flyer, which Ms Hirst said was designed to look like Labor's campaign materials, warns against "gender bending political correctness".

The book includes a story of gender stereotyping of two babies and a gender fairy who answers questions for young transgender children.

"I am extremely angry and upset that a book I wrote for my son and transgender children to feel more normal and comfortable at school is being used in such a nasty way in a political campaign," Ms Hirst said.

"Our children have been used as political footballs in this campaign.

"I am even more angry that many more families with transgender children were handed these flyers while lining up to vote."

Ms Hirst said the book wasn't part of the Safe Schools curriculum and she expected complaints to be lodged with the Australian Electoral Commission and Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission.

Charitable organisations can express views related to policy debates but only in relation to their charitable purposes.

One Safe Schools website promotes The Gender Fairy as a resource for school libraries.

A spokesman for the charities commission would not discuss any complaints due to "secrecy provisions" but said the outcomes of compliance investigations were made public.

Hate-filled misinformation being handed out by the Australian Christian Lobby on my booth pic.twitter.com/d1OkXroqCx— Ben Harris-Roxas (@ben_hr) July 2, 2016

Australian Christian Lobby boss Lyle Shelton defended the flyer, distributed to about a million people.

"I have every sympathy in the world for families who might have children who are struggling with their gender identity ... but this is highly contested ideology and it is clearly promoted by Safe Schools," he said.

"We weren't passing it off as Labor Party material, we were passing it off as material that was communicating what Labor was planning to do."

The Canberra-based organisation has led the campaign against Safe Schools and continues its long-running efforts to oppose same-sex marriage.

It is not a peak body for Christians churches or organisations but works to influence Australia's political leaders.

"We mean no ill will towards Jo or to any other family who might have children who are struggling with their biological gender identity," Mr Shelton said.

"It has become a feature of public debate that if you talk about some of these issues ... that somehow that's offensive.

"I'm sorry, but these are contentious and difficult issues and we can't just not talk about them because some people take offence."

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