Leaving the island: Schapelle Corby to fly home to Australia

Schapelle Corby is set to fly home overnight after managing to bypass the media on her way to the Denpasar airport following her last Bali parole meeting.

Earlier on Saturday she left her Kuta home to confront the media circus waiting outside and headed to the local corrections office for the meeting.

There Corby was again confronted by crowds of journalist, with police officers forced to fend them off in the courtyard.

A short time later, an official appeared outside holding up the 39-year-old's signed prisoner release papers to the waiting media, showing she was free.

Corby was then driven to the airport where she was expected to board 10.10pm local time flight back home.

Up to 200 police officers were deployed in the military-style operation to accompany her to the airport.

Wearing sunglasses, a white shawl around her head and carrying a handbag, Corby got into a corrections vehicle accompanied by her sister Mercedes under the glare of flashing cameras.

Mercedes filmed the waiting media with her iPhone from inside the car, and Corby's handbag carried an image of missing child William Tyrrell.

Their brother, Michael, watched the scene from atop the high fence of the Kuta villa where she has been staying, photographing the media while wearing a mask.

Armoured vehicles were waiting down the lane from where Corby has been living to escort her to corrections office in Denpasar.

Bali officials said her sister Mercedes was "expecting a lot from security officials", citing security concerns around the large media contingent on the Indonesian island and anyone else who "objects to her release".

The beauty school dropout was arrested in 2004 at the Indonesian resort island's airport with marijuana stashed in her surfing gear, and sentenced to 20 years in jail.

As of midnight on Saturday, Head of Bali's Law and Human Rights Office, Ida Bagus Ketut Adnyana said Corby was official deemed "free".

"She is no longer in detention."

Earlier, officials said they want to keep her time at the airport brief, citing "security concerns".

They are expecting around a quarter of the passengers on the flight to be from the media.

Her sister Mercedes and her bodyguard, who has protected the likes of the Dalai Lama and Roger Federer, are expected to join her on the journey, as are correction officials.

Her departure marks the end of Corby's long battle with Indonesian officials which began when they uncovered 4.2 kilograms of marijuana in her bodyboard bag in Denpasar airport in October 2004.

It will also mark the end of a case that has put strain on the often tumultuous relationship between Indonesia and Australia.

"Not only was it a major political issue between our two countries, it defined the bilateral relationship for a number of years," President of the Australian-based Indonesia Institute Ross Taylor told AAP.

Her steadfast proclamations of innocence and well-documented fight with mental illness in prison generated much sympathy in Australia, where she was often depicted as the victim of a conspiracy.

The view of her case is starkly different in Indonesia, where many see Corby as a common criminal who simply broke the country's tough anti-drugs laws.

Indonesia has stepped up its campaign against drug use since Corby was jailed.

Two Australians were put to death alongside six other foreigners and one Indonesian in April 2015 for drug smuggling, sparking a serious diplomatic row between Jakarta and Canberra.