A $2.5 million tax-payer funded campaign will warn parents not to smack their children.

The guidelines will be released by a child welfare agency supported by the federal government and will be available in 16 languages.

The Australian Childhood Foundation's website advises parents that smacking children teaches them that violence is acceptable later in life.

The website says: "Physical punishment causes pain to stop the behaviour. For example hitting a child with a hand or object," News Limited reports.

It says physical punishment can have an adverse impact on children's emotional development and "teaches children that violence can be an acceptable way to solve problems".

"Physical punishment can undermine a child's sense of love and security," the guidelines say. "They can often become anxious, fearful or rebellious."

Chief Executive of the Australian Childhood Foundation Dr Joe Tucci said parents should not have to hurt children to teach them a lesson.

"We need to think about whether this is the sort of tool we want to continue to use - just because their parents used it, does that mean we have to? I think the answer is no."

Associate Professor Margaret Sims from Edith Cowan University said the guidelines were a starting point for parents who needed to be re-educated about how to discipline their children.

- AAP