Five men accused of towing a boat to North Queensland as part of a bid to join the Islamic State group may not get a fair trial, a court has heard.

Thousands of telephone intercepts will be submitted as evidence against Melbourne Islamic preacher Robert "Musa" Cerantonio and four other men including Shayden Thorne, the brother of hardline Islamist Junaid Thorne.

The group was arrested in May after allegedly towing a seven-metre boat from Melbourne towards Cape York in far-north Queensland.

Police have alleged the men were planning to use the boat to travel to Indonesia and from there on to Syria.

Lawyer Rob Stary told the court the cases were funded by legal aid, and the defence did not have the resources of a Commonwealth investigative team.

"We need the brief in a digestible form," he said.

"We don't have a bottomless pit of resources and cannot spend weeks analysing the brief without any extra funding.

"It's unfair to the accused. He has the right to understand the case."

The brief includes 2,000 items, including audio, intercept material and data found on mobile phones, and the prosecution has more than 100 witnesses.

The court ordered hard copies of 100 witness statements to be provided and moved the committal hearing until February.

Cerantonio appeared from prison via video-link.