The federal opposition has claimed the repatriation of the so-called ISIS brides has turned a western Sydney issue into a nationwide problem after one was granted bail in a NSW regional court.

At the same time the former NSW counter-terrorism minister has said he was receiving different advice on the safety of repatriating the women and their children prior to the Albanese government taking office.

Mariam Raad, 31, was granted bail by a NSW regional court on Friday after being charged with entering and remaining in parts of Syria that were under Islamic State control.

She was arrested on Thursday in Young, in the state’s southwest, where she had been living since being returned in October.

Australian Federal Police and NSW Police investigators from the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team executed warrants at her home and a home in Parklea, in Sydney’s northwest, where a relative lives.

Raad was one of four women and 13 children repatriated from the Syrian camp to Sydney in October last year. All the women were married to IS fighters who are now dead or in jail.

Facing 10-year sentence

Raad was charged with entering, or remaining in, “declared areas” – in this case Syria, which was under the control of the terrorist group IS – in breach of federal law. She faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted.

Raad faced a Griffith magistrate via an audio-visual link on Friday after being held in custody in Wagga.

She was granted bail and was forced to surrender her passport.

Among 12 bail conditions, she was banned from contacting anyone in prison or associated with a terrorist group, barred from viewing or distributing material on things including terrorism and related propaganda, and cannot attempt to acquire a firearm.

She’s due to appear at Young Local Court on March 15.

David Elliott, the former NSW police minister, said he had received “completely opposite” advice on Raad, with authorities telling him she was a security threat.

Mr Elliott was the state’s police minister from mid-2019 to late-2021.

“Somehow magically, when Anthony Albanese became prime minister, these ISIS brides stopped being a security threat,” Mr Elliott said on Friday.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said there was no threat to the community but authorities would continue to monitor the returned women.

“There’s obviously a process to go through now, which involves the AFP and others,” Dr Chalmers told the ABC on Friday.

Slate of charges

Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley said what was once a “western Sydney issue” was now a “whole-of-Australia problem”.

“We don’t know where these people have been resettled. We don’t know which communities have been put at risk. We don’t know where they are moving in and out of,” Ms Ley said.

It will be alleged in court that Raad travelled to Syria in early 2014 to join her husband – Muhammad Zahab – who left Australia in 2013 and joined IS. It will be further alleged Raad was aware of her husband’s activities with IS and willingly travelled to the conflict region.

The husband, a former Sydney maths teacher who rose through the ranks of the terror outfit, is believed to have died in Syria in 2018.

The woman was until last year living in the Al Roj Internally Displaced Persons camp in northern Syria, which has been under Kurdish control since the defeat of IS.

The investigation into Raad began when she was in Syria and continued after she returned.

The federal police commander tasked with monitoring terror risks said the joint counter-terrorism team would continue to investigate Australians returning from declared conflict areas.

Ongoing investigation

“Individuals will be brought before the courts when evidence supports allegations that returned individuals have committed offences in conflict areas,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Sandra Booth said on Thursday.

The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team comprises members of the AFP, NSW Police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the NSW Crime Commission.

Margaret Roles, the mayor of Hilltops Council, which oversees Young, said it wasn’t known that Raad was in the community and declined to comment further as the matter was before the courts.

“We’ve been a diverse but inclusive community for a long time,” Cr Roles told AAP on Friday.

-AAP