More than 500 Australians are in overseas jails, new figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs reveal.
The 14-year-old NSW boy busted for alleged marijuana possession in Bali joins a long list of Australians to fall foul of local authorities for drug offences.
But so far he is the only one to get a phone call from the Prime Minister.
At the end of last month, 565 Australians were in custody overseas, including those held by police or in jail awaiting trials, DFAT said.
There are 234 Australians serving jail terms in foreign prisons.
The most celebrated is Schapelle Corby, whose story has resembled a soap opera after Indonesian customs officials found 4kg of cannabis in her bodyboard bag in 2004.
Despite pleading innocence, she was convicted of drug smuggling and jailed for 20 years.
The verdict and perceived harsh penalty sparked outrage in Australia, with demands for Corby to be allowed to serve her sentence at home because of concerns her mental health was deteriorating.
Also in Indonesian prisons are the Bali Nine, who tried to smuggle heroin valued at $4 million to Australia in 2005.
Police arrested them at the airport and a resort, some with heroin strapped to their bodies.
The ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, are on death row in Kerobokan Prison and hope a plea for clemency will save them from the firing squad.
Other members also faced execution but their sentences were cut to life in jail on appeal.
Three weeks ago, Graeme Michael Pollock, originally of Perth, was arrested in Kuta after allegedly being caught with 0.64g of methamphetamine. He faces up to 12 years jail if found guilty.
While drug mules and users make up much of the caseload, Australians are doing time for other serious offences.
In July, the Bulgarian Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Sydney man Jock Palfreeman against his 20-year sentence for stabbing a Bulgarian student to death in 2007. His legal team argued self-defence and crucial evidence, such as CCTV footage, was not shown at the trial.
An appeal to the European Court of Human Rights has been flagged.
But a conviction overseas does not necessarily mean an Australian will not come home to do the time for their crime.
WA woman Holly Deane-Johns spent seven years in a Bangkok jail after she tried to mail heroin to an address in Perth. She was transferred to Bandyup Women's Prison in 2007 to serve out her sentence.
