One of the nine Australian men who stripped to their swimwear emblazoned with the Jalur Gemilang over the weekend has urged travellers to be culturally aware.

“I'd like to urge all Australians travelling overseas in the future to be very aware of the cultural differences and sensitivities that exist in other nations," advertising executive Nick Kelly said upon his return to Australia.

The grim-faced 27-year-old was met by reporters at Sydney Airport. Kelly was backed by three of his friends - civil engineer Thomas Laslett, corporate risk manager Timothy Yates and business general manager Edward Leaney.

Kelly was quoted as saying by the Associated Press that the group was grateful for the help of the Australian consulate in Malaysia and their families.

The only one who has not yet returned to Australia is Jack Walker, a senior adviser to Australian Defence Industry Minister Chris Pyne. Walker is still overseas with family members, who had flown to Malaysia.

After pleading guilty under Section 290 of the Penal Code for public nuisance, the Sessions Court in Sepang yesterday discharged the nine men.

Though judge Harith Sham Mohamed Yasin said their conduct was "totally inappropriate" and had “provoked the sensitivity of Malaysians”, he however took into account their young ages, their four-day remand and that they were remorseful.

One of the men, Tom Whitworth, read out the group’s two-page apology, “sincerely apologising” for their actions, which had offended the sentiments of the people in Malaysia.

Whitworth explained that their actions were purely an oversight, which had stemmed from their lack of knowledge of the cultural and national sensitivities of Malaysians.

The men became known as the ‘Budgie 9’ for sporting the swimwear, known in Australia as ‘budgie smugglers’.

Photographs of the foreigners in the Malaysian flag swimwear went viral on social media.