The youngest daughter of a Tamil asylum seeker family facing deportation to Sri Lanka will remain in Australia until Wednesday after a ruling by the Federal Court on Friday.

Key points: The family's youngest daughter, Tharunicaa, may not be deported from Australia until 4:00pm Wednesday

The family's youngest daughter, Tharunicaa, may not be deported from Australia until 4:00pm Wednesday The family's lawyer told the court Tharunicaa's eligibility for refugee protection should have been assessed

The family's lawyer told the court Tharunicaa's eligibility for refugee protection should have been assessed The ruling only applies to Tharunicaa but the family's lawyer said it would be "inhumane" to separate the family

Justice Mordecai Bromberg has granted an injunction preventing the removal of the youngest daughter from the country, which lasts until 4:00pm on Wednesday.

On Thursday night the family was removed from immigration detention and put on a plane in Melbourne, but the aircraft was forced to land in Darwin in the early hours of the morning after an urgent injunction was granted by Federal Circuit Court Judge Heather Riley.

The family's lawyer said an injunction was sought specifically for the two-year-old daughter because immigration officials had not assessed her individual claim for protection.

Nades and Priya left Sri Lanka during the civil war and arrived in Australia separately by boat in 2012 and 2013.

The family have been in detention since March last year. ( Supplied: @HometoBilo )

The couple married in Australia and their daughters — Kopika, 4, and Tharunicaa, aged 2 — were born here.

Friday's ruling applies only to the family's youngest daughter, not the rest of the family, who fear they will be persecuted for their links to the militant Tamil Tigers if they are made to go back.

The matter is due to return to court next Wednesday.

Lawyer renews plea for ministerial intervention

The family's lawyer, Carina Ford, told reporters it would be up to the Government to decide if it would proceed with the removal of other family members between now and Wednesday.

"It would be pretty inhumane to separate the family at this time," Ms Ford said.



"I would hope that commonsense prevails in that regard.

"It's hard to argue that [Tharunicaa] being removed from her parents is in her best interests."

Ms Ford said the Minister should intervene in the family's case.

"This is an unusual case which warrants the Minister's attention," she said.

"He can intervene for any reason, and that should not be forgotten."

Earlier, Angel Aleksov, representing the family, told the court the youngest daughter should have been assessed by immigration officials as to whether she was entitled to protection.

Her situation ought to have been referred to the Minister, he said.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 7 seconds 1 m 7 s The family made a video after being placed on a plane at Melbourne Airport.

Family held in Darwin during court battle

On Thursday night, supporters of the family gathered at Melbourne Airport to try to prevent the family's deportation, chanting and cutting through a fence to reach the tarmac.

An Australian Federal Police spokesperson said officers arrested two women after they breached a perimeter fence and accessed a security-controlled area without appropriate permission.

The plane which was to deport the family left Melbourne Airport about 11:00pm on Thursday. ( ABC News )

The spokesperson said the women will face charges relating to trespass and unlawfully interfering with the safe operation of an aircraft, and will be issued with a summons to appear in court at a later date.

On Friday morning the family was being held at a hotel at Darwin Airport.

But by the afternoon, supporters said the family had been driven back into the airport in a van.

Supporters said the family was taken back to Darwin Airport on Friday afternoon. ( Supplied: Iyngaranathan Selvaratnam )

The family had been living at Biloela in Central Queensland for about three years before being placed in detention in Melbourne in March 2018 when Priya's bridging visa expired.

The Biloela community has rallied around the family, urging the Federal Government to allow them to stay.

The High Court in May rejected the family's bid to have their case reviewed.

Dutton says family was never offered 'false hope'

Last week, the Federal Government blocked an application for an assessment of the dangers that Tharunicaa would face if she was sent to Sri Lanka.

Interviewed Friday morning before the court hearing, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the family had been found "all the way to the High Court" not to be owed protection.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 33 seconds 1 m 33 s Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the family had been told they would not be able to settle in Australia.

"They've been told before they had children that they were never going to settle here," he said.

"No court or tribunal has ever said, 'oh look, there might be an opportunity for you to stay. You may be eligible'.

"Nobody has ever said that. Nobody has held out false hope."

Au pair case cited

A former senior immigration official criticised Immigration Minister David Coleman's use of ministerial intervention powers, comparing the Tamil family's situation to a controversy last year where Peter Dutton personally intervened to stop the deportation of two European au pairs.

"It's quite clear if you look at the ministerial intervention guidelines, this case meets those guidelines more clearly than the two au pair cases in which the minister [Mr Dutton] acted within hours," said Abul Rizvi, former deputy secretary of the Immigration Department.

"It is a complex situation but it is one where a wise and benevolent minister would have acted a long time ago."

Ministerial intervention powers, otherwise known as "god powers", are designed to cater for those cases where a person has not met the legal requirements for a visa, but because of humanitarian or national interest grounds, the government intervenes.

Mr Rizvi said the Tamil family's case clearly met those requirements.

"We have a clear contest between human decency and appropriate use of the ministerial intervention powers and the minister's ego," Mr Rizvi said.

Labor calls for government compassion

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles said the minister had discretion to allow the family to stay.

"The Minister has a discretion here, which can be used," he said before Friday morning's court hearing.

"The community in Biloela has clearly made it evident as to how they would like to see this discretion used.

"Two daughters were born here — they know no other country but Australia."

But the state LNP MP for Callide, which encompasses Biloela, Colin Boyce, was critical of the time the family's case had taken to process and said it was costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

"There are so many cases pending … so you start making exceptions for one, how do you deal with the other cases?" he said.

Friends of the family in Biloela said they were relieved at the injunction and would continue to fight for the family.

"This is just a message that we have to go higher and stronger … we will not rest until this family are back home in Biloela," Angela Fredericks said.

Friend Bronwyn Dendle said she feared for the family's wellbeing.

"I don't know if there has been any support people there, even to help them with the kids and the trauma the kids would be experiencing going through all of this," she said.