The families of three Aboriginal youths murdered in the small NSW town of Bowraville have packed a Sydney courtroom to hear about a long-awaited appeal that could see a man re-tried over two of the killings.

It was standing room only in the small room of the Court of Criminal Appeal on Thursday, as Justice Clifton Hoeben discussed the potential timeline of the appeal, which will argue there is enough fresh and compelling evidence to re-try the man previously acquitted of two of the murders.

The man, who can’t be named for legal reasons, allegedly killed 16-year-old Clinton Speedy-Duroux and four-year-old Evelyn Greenup sometime in a five-month window from October 1990 to April 1991 in the quiet Mid-North Coast hinterland town.

A third Aboriginal youth 16-year-old Colleen Walker, was also killed in the area from 1990 to 1991. Her body has never been recovered but articles of her clothing were found weighed down with rocks in the nearby Nambucca River months after her disappearance.

The uneventful and brief hearing heard that more time was needed to consider the evidence before a date for hearing the appeal could be set.

The accused, who was granted bail at Newcastle Local Court last week, did not appear in court.

AAP