Australia faced up to terrorist challenge 10 years ago and the nation remains "strong and resilient," in pursuing the ongoing global campaign to neutralise efforts by terror groups to sow fear and chaos.

In commemorating the twin-bombing in Bali, Indonesia on Oct 12 2002, which killed 202 local and foreign tourists, 88 of them Australians, Governor-General Quentin Bryce paid tribute to the innocent lives lost on that day, all of whom represent "the heavy weight of loss."

Amidst the tragedy, "we have shown in ourselves that . . . we can come together and unite," Mrs Bryce said in Canberra on Friday.

"We have turned our face to our foe . . . we have shown through our words and our deeds that we cannot be beaten," Sky News reported Ms Bryce as saying on Friday.

In Kuta, the Indonesian district where terror operatives of the al Qaeda-affiliated Jemaah Islamiyah detonated two bombs on a bar strip regularly frequented by Western foreigners, an Australian flag was raised on the lot that was once a place where tourists converged.

The flag hangs proudly, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported on Friday, and was printed with words that read "Remember the lost Australians."

Each of the Aussies who perished on that day was indeed remembered with small photos pinned on the flag, showing the victims with smile on their faces, AAP said.

Back home, Deputy Opposition leader Julie Bishop described them as "innocent civilians suddenly and mercilessly killed . . . they were people relaxing on holiday, enjoying the casual carefree lifestyle offered in Bali."

"We cannot comprehend the mindless cruelty, the cowardly extremism behind the attacks and rightly we demanded justice against the perpetrators," Sky News reported Ms Bishop as saying.

She added, however, that the tragic loss was not in vain, stressing that "we give joyful thanks for the lives they led and the love they shared."

Key Australian officials flew in to Bali to personally attend the planned memorial service for victims of the terror attack, which also claimed the lives of many from 22 countries, despite reports of terrorist threats against Australian VIPs.

Former Prime Minister John Howard, also the PM at the time of the Bali bombing, dismissed the plots, insisting that Indonesia's security forces were capable enough to safeguard the thousands who are expected to flock to Bali for the event.

The Indonesian government, according to ABC, has deployed a 1,500-strong security force to watch over the visitors.

In a defiant mood, Mr Howard declared: "Those who want to go, many of them are already there, they will still go . . . It's a very important thing emotionally to them."

Also, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will be at hand to witness the event, with the former insisting that the Bali memorial service "is a moment of real significance for our nation."

"I want to spend some time with the families who have really had to absorb such grief, but also for the nation, speak about the journey over the 10 years since, and everything that we've done to counter the threat of terrorism in Australia and beyond our shores," Ms Gillard told reporters prior to her departure for Indonesia.