A Melbourne man accused of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in the Philippines received half a million dollars in Australian taxpayer money to fight the charges.

The Australian reports Peter Scully was given about $500,000 to pay his legal bills by the federal government under a program called the Serious Criminal Matters Scheme.

The program provides legal funding for Australians facing serious charges overseas.

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It is only available to Australians facing more than 20 years imprisonment or the death penalty and who cannot otherwise afford the costs of a lawyer.

Attorney-General Christian Porter said the decision to fund Scully's legal defence was made when his predecessor George Brandis was in charge.

A mugshot of Peter Scully.

"There are circumstances where such support is absolutely appropriate," Porter said.

"I had already asked my department for information on the scheme, including this particular case, with a view to considering changes to the scheme, so that persons in circumstances similar to Mr Scully, or those with histories of sexual offending and ¬relevant convictions, would no longer be eligible."

Scully is facing a litany of accusations after allegedly sexually assaulting a girl before strangling her and burying her under his house.

When he was arrested, two teenage girls were allegedly found naked and shackled in another apartment he rented.

He also allegedly made videos showing the torture of babies and toddlers.

Such videos were allegedly sold online for $10,000 each.

Scully's alleged crimes were so sickening that Philippines prosecutors pushed to reinstate the death penalty. Capital punishment has since been restored for serious drug offenders, but Scully will not face execution.

Peter Scully during his arrest. (60 Minutes)

Australian Federal Police officer Paul Hopkins told 60 Minutes in 2015 that Scully was "the most depraved individual I have ever come across in 26 years of police".

"I've worked in nine different countries, I've worked in a lot of different jobs, I've never seen anything like this,” Hopkins said.

Dutch, Australian and Filipino police tracked down Scully in 2015 after recognising an Australian accent in one of his videos, titled Daisy's Destruction.

Police in the Philippines went house by house, matching up the interiors of homes with those seen in the videos.

Scully has pleaded not guilty to the 75 charges made against him, forcing his alleged victims to testify against him.