Foreign Minister Julie Bishop met with her Egyptian counterpart to discuss a pardon for journalist Peter Greste.
The Australian journalist's fellow Al Jazeera reporters Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been pardoned and freed from prison in Egypt.
But Mr Greste's name was not on the list of pardons, meaning he is still a convicted criminal.
Ms Bishop said while no time frame was given, she has received assurances from Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry about Peter Greste's case.
"Foreign Minister Shoukry informed me that there was a technical or legal hurdle because he [Mr Greste] was not present in Egypt for the trial," she toldFairfax Media.
"However, he made it clear that he would either change the law or the president would consider being able to use his power to achieve the same result.
"But the conversation was in the presence of President al-Sisi."
Peter Greste said he is cautiously optimistic.
"It seems quite clear that the Egyptian president, the Egyptian government is trying to resolve our situation, which is very encouraging to me," he told the ABC.
"We have been fighting to have our names cleared for the past two years almost now...and it is great to know, to get that kind of reassurance. But I guess, from us, it is not over until it really is over.
"It is not over until we get the formal pardons that all of us deserve."
Mr Greste said he would be applying his full efforts in oveturning "an unjust record on terrorism charges".
"It matters to me because the last thing anybody wants is a criminal record hanging over their heads, much less an unjust record on terrorism charges. That is difficult for me because of what it means in my personal life - all sorts of routine things like getting bank loans, and so on, are made that much more difficult.
"It also makes it difficult to travel freely if you have that kind of criminal record."
