Schapelle Corby's chances of an early release from prison have been given another boost with corrections officers in Bali recommending the convicted drug smuggler be given parole.
The development comes after a team from the corrections department - otherwise known as BAPAS - visited the home of Corby's sister, Mercedes, last Tuesday to assess whether it would be a suitable place for Schapelle to live.
Ketut Artha, the head of the Denpasar BAPAS office, has told AAP that the recommendation from his team was handed to prison officials on Friday.
"The content is that we agree with suggestion that Corby gets her parole," he told AAP on Saturday while attending Indonesian independence day celebrations at Kerobokan jail.
"Our consideration is that Corby has shown good behaviour while in prison, that local society and officials could accept, her and the family is ready with guarantee.
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"So now, we're only waiting for the minister's decree."
While the recommendation does not guarantee that Corby will win parole, it is a crucial step that paves the way for her to soon be released from Kerobokan jail to live with her sister Mercedes in Bali.
The recommendation will now be passed on to the Law and Human Rights Ministry, with a final decision possible within weeks.
"Maybe it's possible within a month that decree issued. It depends on prison and local office in processing it, if it is fast or not," Ketut said.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr says Australia supports Corby's application and had provided a guarantee.
"I hope the minister takes a sympathetic view of it," Senator Carr told Sky News.
Corby, who was caught in 2004 attempting to smuggle more 4.1kg of marijuana into Bali, was sentenced to 20 years in jail but had her prison term slashed by five years by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
She has been eligible to apply for parole since last August but her legal team had baulked at lodging an application after the Indonesian government introduced tough new conditions for prisoners convicted of serious crimes including drug trafficking.
The 36-year-old would have to serve out the remainder of her sentence in Bali, which would see her remain on the island until mid-2015, so long as she continues to win the maximum eight months per year in remissions.
The governor of Kerobokan jail, Gusti Ngurah Wiratna, confirmed on Saturday that Corby had also been recommended for a sentence cut of six months to mark Indonesian independence day celebrations.
Wiratna said that the Bali Nine's Renae Lawrence - serving 20 years for her part in a 2005 plot to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Australia - had also been recommended for a six-month sentence cut for good behaviour.
The 35-year-old Lawrence, from Newcastle, has also been put forward for an additional cut of two months for her work as a "prison leader".
