“I hope this competition for air time between the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister doesn't descend into an unseemly rush for publicity and jeopardise what should be level-headed, behind-the-scenes discussions between our consular officials, the boy, his family, and his lawyers,” Ms Bishop said.
“It's one thing for the Prime Minister to call this boy but it's an entirely different matter to brief the media on this issue to give it publicity.
“By taking this action it does risk being counter-productive to the boy's best interests.”
Ms Bishop spoke to The Australian Online as the Prime Minister's office confirmed Ms Gillard was speaking to Australia's Ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, immediately before speaking to the boy and his father.
“During a phone call with the ambassador yesterday while he was at Denpasar police station she had the opportunity to talk to the father and the son,” Ms Gillard's spokesman said.
“The Prime Minister reassured them the government was doing everything it could.”
Details of the call were revealed as it emerged that a psychiatrist's report on the NSW boy recommends against sending him to prison.
It's understood the report will say the boy is healthy and that his mental condition is good, but it also recommends that efforts should be taken to avoid hindering his development, and that he should not be sent to prison.
Ms Bishop had a 45-minute briefing on the boy's case from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials in Canberra today.
Meanwhile, a psychiatrist is due to hand in an assessment on the Australian teenager today.
A report from an Indonesian government welfare expert is also expected in the next few days.
Both will be crucial in helping a judge decide whether he orders the boy to undergo treatment at a drug rehabilitation clinic, which could take place in Australia.
Experts warn it could be weeks, even months, before the boy is sure of his fate.
But Mr Moriarty, who saw the 14-year-old for a second time yesterday, says the case remains his top priority.
"We've talked to the Indonesian authorities about the range of issues, with our primary focus being the welfare of this boy and his family," he said.
"And we're going to be devoting all of our efforts to that consular aspect; to try and have the case expedited as quickly as possible so that he can return to Australia."
Prison fears
Bali has its own drug rehabilitation programs and non-government organisations with health workers trained in the field, but experts in juvenile welfare there do not regularly deal with minors.
In the justice system, the rights of Indonesian children are often abused.
As well as more infamous inmates like the Bali Nine and Schapelle Corby, the island's Kerobokan prison is home to 10 children - nine boys and one girl.
During the day, they mix with adult thieves, bashers and drug dealers.
At night, the boys cram into two cells of their own to be separate from the men, but the girl sleeps in the same cell as the adults in the women's wing.
Four of the children have been jailed for working as runners for local drug dealers. A psychiatrist who has been dealing with them says they were all incarcerated without going through a formal judicial process.
It is a little known fact that Bali does have another place to detain children convicted of a crime.
The Gianyar children's prison at Karangasem, in Bali's impoverished east, is home to 17 inmates - only two of them go to school.
The rest are kept busy with chores, sports and some educational activities including programs to improve their ability to read and write.
Either way, it is a far cry from the Australian boy's high school in a coastal suburb near Newcastle in New South Wales.
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