'ISIS brides' arrested on return to Australia

A pair of Islamic State-linked women accused of crimes against humanity are behind bars but plan to make bail applications after they were arrested on return to Australia.

A 53-year-old and a 31-year-old faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday morning charged with several crimes against humanity offences allegedly committed in Syria.

They landed back in Melbourne on Thursday evening as part of a larger group of women and children who lived in a Syrian refugee camp.

In a packed courtroom, the women appeared separately.

The elder woman appeared first wearing a pink hijab, before the younger woman was led in afterwards wearing a black hijab.

They were both remanded in custody until Monday where they will apply for bail.

Detectives allege the 53-year-old travelled to the region with her husband and children in 2014, and was complicit in the purchase of a female slave for $US10,000, and knowingly kept the woman in her home.

It is alleged the younger woman also had knowingly kept a female slave in her Syrian home in 2014.

Police said the pair were detained by Kurdish forces in 2019 and held with other family members in Al Roj Internally Displaced Persons camp.

Another woman landed in Sydney on Thursday evening and was one of three charged following a near decade-long investigation, which began after the women travelled to the Middle East with their partners, who intended to fight for Islamic State.

She is set to appear at a NSW Bail Division court via an audiovisual link on Friday.

The 32-year-old is facing charges of entering a prohibited area and being a member of a terrorist organisation.

The Sydney woman's lawyers were seeking an "urgent" psychologist report before making a bid for her release, according to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

AFP Assistant Commissioner Counter Terrorism Stephen Nutt said operational planning for the potential return of individuals from the Middle East started in 2015 but the investigation remains active.

A senior AFP officer would not answer questions on Thursday about the fate of the children, many of whom were born in Middle Eastern prison camps notorious for squalid conditions and the presence of extremist groups.

But they are expected to need significant support to help them adjust to life in Australia and to determine whether they've been radicalised while overseas.

Some of the women travelled willingly to support their partners who wanted to fight for Islamic State, but advocates for the group say others were coerced or only went to the Middle East to keep their family together.