Australia is not ready for the children of Islamic State terrorists to return, after the caliphate's fall in Syria, according to a leading developmental psychiatrist.

Key points: Counter-terrorism researcher says there could be security risks if children of IS terrorists are brought to Australia

Counter-terrorism researcher says there could be security risks if children of IS terrorists are brought to Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government is open to helping the children if they are stranded

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government is open to helping the children if they are stranded Khaled Sharrouf's surviving children remain in a Syrian refugee camp

Approximately 70 children or young people of Australian IS fighters are stranded in refugee camps, according to a report by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation.

Debate has raged about what the Federal Government should do to help them, after emotional pleas from relatives of Australia's most notorious IS terrorist, Khaled Sharrouf, to bring his orphan children Down Under.

Professor Louise Newman — one of Australia's leading experts on the impact of trauma on children — said Australia was not ready for, or equipped to handle, the significant trauma to which children of terrorists have often been exposed.

She said Australia needed more training programs and support available for affected children and each needed be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

"We know these children have witnessed violence, acts of atrocities, some young children might have been direct eye witnesses or even involved in some of these behaviours," she said.

Sharrouf's children have been exposed to unthinkable violence and in a widely condemned act — one of his sons was photographed holding up a severed head in 2014.

Sydney-based researcher Madeleine Nyst who specialises in countering violent extremism said the consequences of bringing the children here too early would be serious.

A Sharrouf child holds a gun and gives the Islamic State one finger salute. ( Supplied )

"If we risk bringing them back without having mechanisms in place it could pose a security threat in the future," she said.

Children who have been exposed to traumatic incidents could have long-lasting psychological scars, and that those most at risk were infants younger than three years old, Professor Newman said.

"All of these events result in children who are highly anxious, often depressed [and] they can be behaviourally difficult to maintain and fundamentally untrusting of all human relationships — and that is not easy to repair."

Sharrouf is believed to have been killed in 2015 by an airstrike near Raqqa, Syria.

Sydney Grandmother Karen Nettleton has pleaded for Sharrouf's children and her three remaining grandchildren — heavily pregnant Zaynab, 17, Hoda, 16 and Humzeh, 8, along with Zaynab's two toddlers currently staying in a Syrian refugee camp — to be allowed to come home.

But opponents point to a systemic indoctrination by IS of boys and girls through their education system.

"For example it was mandatory for a lot of boys in the Islamic State territory to be enrolled in military training camps," Ms Nyst said.

But she conceded IS minors were not a homogenous group in Syria.

"They experienced diverse recruitment pathways, they have held various roles in Islamic State ranging from passive citizens, to child brides and even combatants."

Feeling safe the key to recovery

Silma Ihram from the Australian Muslim Women's Association said the road to recovery started with the child feeling safe as that allowed them to better identify with the place they were living.

Silma Ihram said the community would need to give these children a chance. ( ABC News: Danuta Kozaki )

"Once they feel safe there is a greater chance that they will settle in and they will be adequately catered for," she said.

Support from the Australian community would also be essential, she said.

"There will always be the risk that children will be stigmatised because of the decisions of their parents.

"There will always be those who will discriminate, however I think our community has matured a lot and there are sufficient people who will give a young person a chance if they can get their act together."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated the Federal Government is open to helping terrorists' children if they are stranded in war zones in the Middle East.

A spokesman for the Department of Home Affairs said there were a number of programs already in place to help counter violent extremism, such as the 'Living Safe Together Program' which provides Federal Government funding for the states and territories to deliver a national Countering Violent Extremism Intervention Program.

The Department said the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments have been working together to support young people and school communities in relation to countering violent extremism.