A 12-year-old girl will become the face of the fashion festival in Australia.

Maddison Gabriel, who turns 13 on Sunday, is said to be "just following her dreams," but critics believe the teenager is too young for the role of the face of Gold Coast's Fashion week.

"It's my dream to become a top model," said Maddison, a Hillcrest Christian College student, who is already 171 cm tall and still growing, in part thanks to her 191 cm father, Brian, "I believe that I can fit into women's clothes, I can model women's clothes, so I should be able to do it... It doesn't matter about age, it matters that you can do the job."

Her mother Michelle also defended the role, saying her daughter could be both a 12-year-old girl, and a young woman.

"For a 12-year-old I think she's handling it very well, I'm very proud of her," she said. "She's laughing, she's having fun. I'm just waiting for someone to say we are bad parents."

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said it is outrageous and calling for the preservation of "some notion of innocence in our society".

SOURCE: NEWS.COM.AU