'They've learnt their lesson': Family and friends relieved to have remaining Bali nine home

The five remaining Bali nine drug smugglers have woken on Australian soil for the first time in almost two decades.

Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens and Si Yi Chen were among nine young Aussies who tried to smuggle $4 million worth of heroin out of Bali in 2005.

After being convicted and jailed for their crime at Bali's notorious Kerobokan prison, the Australian Government has spent years negotiating with Indonesian authorities to bring the men back home.

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The group boarded a freedom flight out of Indonesia yesterday, accompanied by Australian officials and are right now being assessed in the Northern Territory after arriving at Howard Springs, south of Darwin overnight.

A deal was secured between the Australian and Indonesian governments, where the men will no longer be required to serve anymore time behind bars while on Australian soil.

They'll live in short-term accommodation and have vowed to continue rehabilitation as they settle back into society, with family and friends relieved to finally have them back home.

"I think justice has been done, they've learnt their lesson," Bishop Timothy Harris told Today.

Harris provided pastoral care to both Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj during their time in prison and he said it will be challenging for them to return to any kind of normalcy after what they've been through.

"They committed a terrible crime all those years ago and now we hope that they will be able to get back on track," he said.

"But as I say, that will not be easy, they're coming back home, but they're coming to a home which they don't know."

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Harris said the men have not yet been reunited with their families, who are also in shock over finally having them free.

"This has been an extraordinarily traumatic time, not only for them, but particularly for their families," he said.

"I think they've paid for their crimes and I hope that our system and our people and our attitude of compassion can surround these people now and look at how far they've come and do what they can to help them and give them what they need to help them along in that journey."

Of the other four Bali nine members, Renae Lawrence had her sentence commuted and she was released in 2018.

Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died from cancer in 2018, in a Jakarta hospital and Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were both executed by firing squad in 2015.

Hear more from Bishop Timothy Harris in the video above