The real reason why Keli Lane wasn't granted parole today.

Keli Lane has always maintained her innocence. This week, the 49-year-old is sought parole — the NSW Parole Authority hearing submissions from Lane's legal representatives in a closed hearing on Friday. Though she was denied parole. 

Lane was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in prison, and has served time in some of the state's toughest prisons.

It's a result of her conviction that she murdered her two-day-old daughter, Tegan Lee Lane, in 1996.

Her daughter Tegan was born on September 12, 1996 at Western Sydney's Auburn Hospital. Lane has maintained she gave Tegan to the infant's father, a man named Andrew Norris or Morris, soon after giving birth. Extensive police investigations failed to locate Tegan or the man Lane named as her father, with whom she said she had a brief affair.

In 2010, Lane was convicted of murdering Tegan, though the child's body has never been found.

This soon became one of Australia's most notorious criminal cases.

Watch: the case of Keli Lane. Post continues below.

Over the years, Lane's narrative has shifted repeatedly, but the version she ultimately insisted on — that she handed Tegan over to the baby's biological father — led to her undoing.

Lane was 21 at the time of Tegan's birth.

After she was discharged with baby Tegan, Lane attended a friend's wedding without her baby. Nobody at the wedding had any idea she had recently given birth, and it was years later, when she was arranging the adoption of her third baby, that questions were asked regarding the whereabouts of Tegan.

Now, Lane is nearing the end of her sentence. But the odds of her being granted parole this week were always slim. Here's why.

Why Keli Lane didn't get parole.

In October 2022, the NSW Government introduced the "no body, no parole" laws. The new legislation makes it difficult for convicted murderers to be released on parole if they refuse to reveal the location of their victims' remains.

The laws were introduced in response to the murder of Sydney mother Lynette Simms.

In 2022, Chris Dawson was convicted in the NSW Supreme Court of murdering his wife in 1982. Once news of his guilty verdict was delivered, the Simms' family were calling for a law to hold him further accountable.

In Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory there's a "no body, no parole" policy for murderers. But in New South Wales at the time, there was no such law. 

"We all thought it was quite important, because while we may never find out where Lyn is — and I feel like we wholeheartedly believe unfortunately that will be the case. You just never know unless you have that carrot to dangle," Simms' niece Renee told Mamamia. 

Lawmakers responded, and the bill was passed — dubbed "Lyn's law". The government said they hoped the legislation would comfort grieving families.

"Being unable to locate a loved one's body is extremely distressing and traumatic for the families and friends of victims and it denies a victim the dignity of being laid to rest appropriately," the NSW Premier at the time said.

"These laws are to stop inmates convicted of murder or homicide offences from getting parole unless they co-operate with police to end the torment of families and return to them the remains of their loved ones."

What the "no body, no parole" laws mean for Keli Lane.

Under the laws, the parole board is required to consider a report from the police commissioner about the offender's co-operation in finding the location of a victim's body. The authority cannot grant parole unless it is satisfied an offender has provided satisfactory help.

This proves a sticking point for Lane's parole.

Given she maintains her innocence and says Tegan wasn't murdered, the parole board determined Lane's actions as non co-operative. Lane told ABC News from inside Silverwater jail in 2018 that she believes her daughter is still alive and there is no body to be found.

"The authority is not satisfied that the offender has co-operated satisfactorily in police investigations, or other actions, to identify the location of Tegan," the NSW Parole Authority said in a statement.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Whealy KC, who presided over Lane's 2010 jury trial, told ABC News this law "shouldn't be applied willy nilly to everybody who's been convicted of a murder charge".

The concern relates to those who have potentially been wrongfully convicted. 

Now that Lane has been denied parole based on the new laws, she will likely remain behind bars until her full sentence expires in December 2028.

With AAP.

Feature Image: AAP.