Schapelle Corby has arrived back in Australia, but she is yet to be sighted with her security team taking media on a wild goose chase.

The 39-year-old, accompanied by her sister Mercedes, arrived on a Malindo Air flight that landed at 5.09am after being deported from Bali 12 and a half years after she was caught with 4.1kg of marijuana in her boogie board bag.

But she left the airport via a non-public exit less than half an hour after her flight arrived.

Two convoys, followed by the media, left the airport, and took separate routes.

One ended at the Sofitel Hotel in the city, while the other was stopped at the KFC store at Ormeau, en route to the Gold Coast. Corby was not seen in either.

By 6.30am, she had not shown up at her mother Rosleigh Rose's house at Loganlea.

Queensland Police said they had not provided an escort for the convoys.

After Corby had left the airport, a member of her security team read a statement on behalf of the family, asking for privacy but also thanking supporters.

"To all those in Australia and to all of those in Bali, who were there throughout the difficult journey, your support has not gone unnoticed," the statement said.

"To each and every one of you, you are appreciated."

The family said the focus was no on helping Schapelle adjust to life back in Australia.

"The priority of our focus will now be on healing and moving forward," the statement said.

"In the spirit of humility and in the spirit of dignity, we ask all parties to show respect for the family's privacy during this time."

Her security team also made a last-minute switch to put her on the Malindo Air flight.

She had been expected to travel on a Virgin flight that left around the same time. Up to 40 media had booked onto the Virgin flight.

Corby's return home comes 12 years after she was sentenced to 20 years in prison, where she served almost 10 years before being on parole for a further three years.

She flew out of Bali just after 10pm local time on Saturday after a chaotic final trip from her Kuta home to the parole office then to Denpasar Airport.

Wearing black sunglasses, a white shawl over her head and holding up a bag with the face of missing boy William Tyrrell, who disappeared from Kendall in NSW in 2014, Corby and Mercedes scurried into the back of a corrections vehicle surrounded by media

After signing the final paperwork, they left for the airport.