Aust advocating for Bali Nine man: PM

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Australia is advocating for Bali Nine member Myuran Sukumaran, but Indonesia's friendship is important and its systems must be respected.

Sukumaran, 33, has lost an appeal for presidential clemency, which was his final legal avenue to avoid an Indonesian firing squad.

He received the news on Wednesday at Bali's Kerobokan jail, where he has been on death row since his 2006 conviction over a plot to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Sydney.

Mr Abbott said Australia was making "urgent representations" to the Indonesian government.

"We oppose the death penalty for Australians, we oppose it at home, we oppose it abroad," he told the Nine Network's Today show on Friday.

"But I do have to say that it is incumbent upon us to respect the systems that other countries have.

"While I would absolutely deplore the carrying out of the death sentence, we are an important partner of Indonesia."