The family of murdered Adelaide school teacher Anthea Bradshaw-Hall has waited 20 years for justice.
Thanks to new legislation tabled in parliament on Thursday, they may soon get it.
The bill will allow police to investigate and prosecute the murder of an Australian carried out overseas and for which there has been no trial in the country where the crime has been committed.
It extends retrospective prosecutions to before 2002 which was the starting year for the original legislation that followed the Bali bombings.
It means police can investigate the person suspected of murdering Ms Bradshaw-Hall while she was visiting in Brunei two decades ago.
The suspect still lives overseas.
In a rare move, Attorney-General George Brandis and independent senator Nick Xenophon co-drafted the bill, which is expected to clear parliament before Christmas.
It also has the backing of cabinet minister Christopher Pyne, whose electorate of Sturt is home of the Bradshaw-Hall family.
"I would not describe today as a happy day, it's not a celebratory day," Mr Pyne told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
"It's an important day, an emotional day for the Bradshaws because it is going to allow some closure."
Senator Xenophon said the bill was a tribute to the love Ms Bradshaw's family had for her and congratulated them on highlighting an anomaly in the law.
"Her memory has been honoured by this campaign," he told reporters.
If a person accused of a murder or manslaughter still lived overseas, Australia would need an extradition treaty with that country to return the suspect for prosecution.
The Australian courts could also not impose a penalty higher than the one the crime carried in the country it was committed.
"Obviously Australia doesn't have the death penalty, so we wouldn't go to the death penalty but everything below that would be available," Mr Pyne said.
A person could also not be tried twice, ruling out the possibility of double jeopardy.
Ms Bradshaw's brother Craig thanked the politicians for taking his constant texts and phone calls over the past few years.
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