Three judges in the Family Court have questioned why an abusive father who bashed his partner and held a samurai sword to his daughter's chest was granted access to the child by the same court.

An eight-year long dispute between the parents, given the pseudonyms Ms Tindall and Mr Saldo, took an extraordinary turn on Friday when three appeal judges said their colleague, Justice Margaret Cleary, appeared to underplay and ignore the history of violence in the relationship.

In a judgment delivered earlier this year, Justice Cleary ordered that Mr Saldo be granted monthly access to his nine-year-old daughter following his release from jail.

He had served more than two years for the horrifying ordeal in 2007 in which he bashed Ms Tindall, tied her to a chair in their western Sydney home, held a sword to the child and threatened to kill them.