Gender change voted down in Victorian parliament

Transgender Victorians have lost a bid to change their gender on their birth certificates.

The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill 2016 was introduced by the government earlier this year following an election commitment.

They argued the need for gender diverse people to under go invasive surgery in order to obtain a birth certificate that reflected their gender should be removed.

But the bill was defeated in the state's upper house on Tuesday night.

Equality minister Martin Foley said the bill would have improved the lives of thousands of Victorians - including hundreds of children cared for by the Royal Children's Hospital Gender Dysphoria unit.

"This bill was about giving (diverse) Victorians a basic right - a birth certificate which reflects who they truly are," Mr Foley said in a statement.

Opposition spokesman John Pesutto said the bill went "too far" and was driven by "ideology, not common sense".

The bill's defeat was celebrated by the Women's Liberation Front who said it would have denied women the right to female-only spaces and services, such as domestic violence shelters and changing rooms.

The Greens called on the government to reintroduce the bill in the near future.