It was listed as a mere directions hearing, a usually dry and often uninteresting discussion of the procedural matters of the case.

But this week's latest instalment on the Claremont serial killings trial proved anything but.

The one-and-a-half-hour hearing produced plenty of new nuggets of information about the case, some aspects of which date back more than 30 years.

Bradley Robert Edwards is facing three counts of wilful murder over the abduction and killing of three young women from the Claremont area in 1996 and 1997: Sarah Spiers, 18, Jane Rimmer, 23, and 27-year-old Ciara Glennon.

Sarah Spiers, Ciara Glennon and Jane Rimmer were last seen alive in Claremont. ( Fairfax Media )

He's also charged over the sexual assaults of two other young women — one in Huntingdale in 1988 and the other, a 17-year-old, at Karrakatta cemetery near Claremont in 1995.

He has denied all charges against him.

Here's what we learned this week:

The trial date has been pushed back

The complexity of the case and the amount of evidence to be tendered always meant this would be a long trial.

May 2019 was the envisaged start date, but that was scrapped when defence counsel Paul Yovich successfully argued that it was not feasible and more time would be needed.

Justice Hall has allowed Mr Edwards's lawyers Paul Yovich and Genevieve Cleary more time to prepare his defence. ( ABC News: Andrea Mayes )

In December last year, Justice Stephen Hall ruled the trial would start on July 22 and be set down for nine months.

But this week he reluctantly pushed that date back to November 18, after it became clear the defence would not have enough time to examine new evidence introduced by the prosecution and prepare its case.

"The fact that the matter is adjourned is not one I am in any way pleased about," Justice Hall said during a heated exchange with state prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo.

The delay was "extremely unfortunate and regrettable" but necessary to ensure a fair trial, because of new evidence introduced by the prosecution.

Mr Edwards and his legal team needed to be fully informed of the evidence against him and needed time to adequately prepare his defence, the judge said.

There's still new evidence coming in

In fact, there's so much potential new evidence Justice Hall felt compelled to "draw a line in the sand" and not allow any more.

In April a directions hearing was told new clothing evidence had been obtained by police, which needed to be forensically tested and expert reports written.

Taxi evidence is among the 39 items of outstanding disclosure the prosecution is yet to make. ( ABC News )

But this week that was expanded to 39 separate items of outstanding disclosure, including a variety of forensic evidence such as DNA and fibres, plus taxi evidence and other general evidence.

"This could go on ad infinitum," Justice Hall said, ruling no new evidence be allowed after July 31 unless a special application was made.

State prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo said the order was "unusual" and she had never heard of one being made before.

Outside court, Criminal Lawyers Association president Tony Elliott concurred.

"I have to say I haven't heard of such a ruling in this jurisdiction," he told the ABC.

"But it's not unusual for judges to case manage cases.

"If I allow you to just keep piling up new evidence upon new evidence upon new evidence, then the accused can't get a fair trial.

"So it's not unusual for judges to make [a] ruling to ensure that the trial is fair, and for orders to be made that ensure the efficient running of trials."

A special evidence database is being set up

Also revealed in court this week was the establishment of a purpose-built electronic database to manage the sheer volume of evidence.

We already knew that more than 1.5 million pages of evidence has been collated relating to the case — the most expensive and longest-running in Australian criminal history.

Prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo and her team are housed in a special floor of a building leased for the Claremont serial killings case. ( ABC News: Hugh Sando )

There is so much of it, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has rented an entire floor of a building to house the prosecution team and the evidence.

Now it has been revealed an electronic database of all items of evidence has been created, which will be managed by the judge's associates so it is "seen to be independent of the parties," Justice Hall said.

Items will be cross-referenced and marked as exhibits when they are tendered in court, and backed up in such a way that they can be accessed even in the event of a systems failure.

The Telstra trousers may be crucial evidence

Among the new evidence being looked at is that relating to Telstra-issued work uniforms, specifically work pants, Ms Barbagallo told the court this week.

Mr Edwards was employed by the telecommunications company, previously known as Telecom, for his entire working life until his arrest in December 2016, and drove a work-issued vehicle at the time.

Mr Edwards drove a work-issued Telstra vehicle. ( ABC News )

Ms Barbagallo told the court reports were being sought from two different manufacturers of the uniforms, which would be completed by the end of June.

Clothing fibres are just one part of the fibre evidence set to play a key part in the case.

It has also been flagged that fibres taken from a Telstra vehicle believed to have been driven by Mr Edwards in the 1990s will be central to the case. The vehicle was located by police in 2017.

Police linked the cases as far back as 2014

This week the court was told a report had been prepared in 2014 that linked fibres found on the bodies of Ms Glennon, Ms Rimmer and another woman.

Suburban newspaper the Post reported in 2015 a forensic link between Ms Glennon and the teenage victim in the Karrakatta rape case had been established, showing the same person was responsible for both attacks.

Police at the time refused to confirm or deny the report.

Ms Barbagallo told the court a "large proportion of the work" that had been done identifying fibres common to three of the victims had been completed in 2014, although Mr Edwards was not charged until December 2016.

She said the prosecution had yet to disclose the full extent of its fibre evidence to the defence.

Potential contamination of evidence will be mooted

One of the issues to be raised by the defence at trial is the potential contamination of DNA evidence taken from Ms Glennon's fingernails.

Ms Glennon's body was discovered in bushland at Eglinton, on Perth's northern outskirts, more than a fortnight after she disappeared.

Ms Barbagallo revealed in February DNA taken from Ms Glennon's body, including from under her fingernails, was consistent with Mr Edwards's DNA, and fibres located in her hair corresponded to fibres from the interior of the work car Mr Edwards was allocated at the time.

Bradley Robert Edwards' DNA was found on Ciara Glennon's body, the prosecution will allege. ( Supplied: Central Crocs Football Club )

This week she told the court reports into the fibres found in Ms Glennon's hair were still being completed.

Also being completed were reports on DNA taken from those attending the bush scene where her body was found, as well as from those present at the post-mortem examination.

The case returns to court for a further directions hearing on June 24.