A man accused of consenting to the marriage of his 12-year-old daughter in an illegal ceremony in New South Wales has been remanded in custody.

The 61-year-old man is accused of giving his blessing to the illegal marriage, alleged to have taken place at his home in the Hunter region in January.

Raymond Terrace Local Court heard the man believes he has done nothing wrong and thought his daughter was deeply in love.

In denying bail the magistrate said it is clear the man has a disregard for the laws of the state.

Police have charged the 61-year-old with procuring a child under 14 for illegal sexual activity and being an accessory.

He was arrested by detectives at Raymond Terrace Police Station just before 9am (AEDT).

The girl, now 13, was married to a 26-year-old man, whose case was mentioned in Burwood Local Court today.

He remains in custody charged with multiple counts of sexual intercourse with a child.

A Muslim cleric, Riaz Tasawar, who was until recently the imam at the Mayfield mosque in the region, has also been arrested over the illegal union.

The imam is accused of conducting the marriage.

He has been granted bail to face court in April on a charge of solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person.

Investigations by the State Crime Command's Child Abuse Squad are continuing.

Debate about the extent of child marriages

The case has sparked debate about how widespread is the problem of illegal child marriages.

A children's legal centre says it has identified 250 cases of forced child marriages in the past two years.

National Children's and Youth Law Centre director Matthew Keely says the numbers of forced child marriage are likely to be much higher than the reported figure, with up to 80 cases in one capital city alone.

"Those 250 cases that we identified over 24 months are just the tip of the iceberg," he said.

"All the literature, all the understandings in this space acknowledges that this is a grossly under-reported occurrence so the numbers are going to be much higher."

However, Maha Abdo from the Muslim Women's Association says while she is concerned by the reports, she believes it is unusual in her community, contrary to some media reports.

"We as an organisation that deals with domestic violence and support women in that and child abuse have not heard or seen a case like that at all," she said.

New South Wales Minister for Women Pru Goward has written to her federal counterpart Michaelia Cash to ask for national awareness campaigns on underage and forced marriage.

A spokesman for Senator Cash says she is working with the Minister for Justice on the subject.