INDONESIA has received no explanation for Prime Minister Tony Abbott postponing a meeting with the president, nor any indication that asylum seekers are being sent back to its territory, a government spokesman says.

Mr Abbott was invited to attend a forum in Bali on Tuesday, which was also a chance to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The relationship has been on ice since last year's revelations that Australia had spied on Dr Yudhoyono and his wife, a bombshell that saw Indonesia halt co-operation pending a new code of conduct.

Talks on the code have crawled, but the Bali meeting could have provided a breakthrough.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa revealed the offer to Mr Abbott on April 7, when he told AAP the talks had taken a more positive turn.

Days before the Open Government Partnership forum was due to start, Mr Abbott's attendance hadn't been confirmed and he didn't state a reason for postponing the trip late on Friday.

"The attempt to make a trip to Indonesia has been postponed, but we are hopeful of finding another date soon," a spokesman said.

It's understood the prime minister postponed the trip because Australian officials were in the process of turning an asylum-seeker boat back to Indonesia.

On Saturday, Dr Yudhoyono's spokesman told AAP he only knew of the decision through media reports.

Agus Barnas, spokesman for Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Politics, Law and Security, said he checked with the foreign ministry on Monday and it had no explanation for Mr Abbott's no-show.

"They said that they were not told either about the reason for him not coming," he told AAP.

Indonesia has also received no notice of a boat turnback.

Mr Barnas said he read Australian opposition and Greens criticism of Mr Abbott's change of heart and agreed it was a missed opportunity.

"If I was going to take a negative view it would be that Abbott's reason was just that he did not want to meet President SBY in person," he said.

"It's a pity ... this was actually a good opportunity for both leaders to meet in person, eye to eye."

A spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she won't be representing the prime minister on this occasion.

Australia will be represented at official level, she said.

Originally published as Indonesia in dark over Abbott no-show