The brother of one of the children who disappeared from Bowraville more than 25 years ago says his family is elated the case might finally be heard in court.
Colleen Walker was 16 when she disappeared along with two other Aboriginal children - four-year-old Evelyn Greenup and 16-year-old Clinton Speedy-Duroux - from the mid-north coast town over a five month period between 1990-1991.
The man acquitted over Evelyn and Clinton's murders is a step closer to facing a retrial following an application by the NSW government to the state's highest criminal court.
"After careful consideration, I have decided that there should be no further delay in bringing this matter to court," NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton said on Tuesday.
"The best and most transparent way to deal with this tragic case is to make an application for retrial to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal," she said.
Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione on Tuesday delivered an 18-volume brief of evidence to Ms Upton detailing new evidence which allegedly links local man Jay Hart to the three killings.
Ms Walker's brother Lucas Craig told AAP he was overwhelmed and happy at the decision.
"I've grown up seeing my mum being let down so many times, and to see her face change this afternoon ... it feels like we're finally being heard," he said on Tuesday evening.
"I'm just trying to take it all in.
"This is a step forward that we needed."
In separate trials, Mr Hart was found not guilty of murdering Clinton and Evelyn, whose bodies were found in bushland on the outskirts.
Colleen's clothing was pulled from a nearby river but her body has never been found.
Under the double jeopardy law the Court of Criminal Appeal may order an acquitted person be retried for a life sentence offence if there is fresh and compelling evidence.
Ms Upton said she made the decision to "allow the arguments to be heard and tested" after reviewing Mr Scipione's evidence and speaking with Premier Mike Baird.
"While there can be no certainty whatsoever about the outcome, this is the course of action that promises a sense of closure for all involved," she said in a statement.
The application is also for all three cases to be heard as a single trial, and will be argued by former South Australian director of public prosecutions Wendy Abraham QC.
In 2014, after a 12-month investigation, a NSW parliamentary inquiry found flaws in the way police had investigated the crimes.
At the time, Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin, who has worked on the case since 1996, said families had been let down by the justice system.
He told the inquiry that race had impacted on how the murders were investigated, saying there were overwhelming links between the murders and that they must be heard in a single trial.
NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge called the move "a giant step forward in the push for justice".
"No court can bring these children back or end the hurt that these families have suffered but at the very least we now have a real opportunity to right a wrong and deliver justice," Mr Shoebridge said.
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