WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has set foot on Australian soil for the first time in more than a decade after pleading guilty to a single US espionage charge ensuring his freedom.

Assange arrived in wintry Canberra accompanied by US ambassador Kevin Rudd and UK High Commissioner Stephen Smith soon after 7.30pm on Wednesday, to be met by family including his wife Stella and father John Shipton, along with waiting media.

For almost 15 years the Australian has been evading authorities seeking to bring him to American soil on spying charges after he leaked troves of secret state information.

He spent almost seven years holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy before being detained for five years in a maximum-security UK prison where he fought his extradition.

On Wednesday, the 52-year-old secured his freedom by pleading guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents and was sentenced to 62 months – time he has already served.

A few hours later, he left court a free man on the US Pacific territory of Saipan and boarded a chartered flight bound for Canberra.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was satisfied with what his government had achieved for Assange.

“Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long,” he said during Question Time on Wednesday.

“I have said repeatedly that there was nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.”

Mr Albanese directly raised the issue with US President Joe Biden and in September politicians from across Australia’s political spectrum converged on Washington DC to lobby US decision-makers.

US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy said the US was grateful to the Australian government for its commitment and assistance throughout the process. “The return of Julian Assange to Australia brings this longstanding and difficult case to a close,” she said in a statement.

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said Assange was “no hero” of hers but welcomed his return.

“He put lives in danger, not just of counter-intelligence agents in the US but also of innocent and helpful Iraqi and Afghan citizens who were helping coalition forces,” she said.

After the hearing, Assange’s lawyer Barry Pollack said the court had “determined that no harm was caused by Mr Assange’s publications”. 

Jennifer Robinson, another leading member of his legal team, said the outcome was a “huge relief” and she thanked the Australian government and her client’s supporters.

“I hope that the fact that we’ve been able to free Julian Assange today, against all the odds and against one of the most powerful governments in the world, will give hope to all journalists and publishers who are imprisoned,” she told reporters outside court.

For his supporters, it was a moment of jubilation.

“It’s a great victory for freedom of expression and also justice,” Australian Assange Campaign legal adviser Greg Barns SC told AAP.

“Julian faced the prospect of over 170 years in a US jail if he’d been convicted of the charges for which the Americans were seeking to extradite him.”

Assange’s family are also celebrating his release, with his father John Shipton praising the Australian government for its efforts.