PM Tony Abbott not giving up hope on Bali Nine pair

The federal government is not giving up hope of preventing two Australian drug smugglers from being executed in Indonesia.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be transferred this week to the location marked for their executions.

Once they and other prisoners are on Nusakambangan island in Central Java, they will be given their execution date.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, whose embassy officials attended a meeting in Jakarta on Monday, won't be making a last-minute mercy dash to Indonesia because she's been advised by diplomats it would be counter-productive.

However, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has urged Indonesian authorities to allow the pair to exercise their legal options.

"Let's not do this dreadful, final, irrevocable thing any time soon," Mr Abbott says.

It's unclear what action the government will take if the executions go ahead, but one of them won't be using the $1 billion aid program for Indonesia as a bargaining tool.

Ms Bishop says Chan and Sukumaran are remorseful and have been rehabilitated.

When Indonesia executed one Indonesian and five foreign nationals last month, a meeting with embassies, the announcement of the 72-hour's notice and the executions all happened within the week.