Adrian Bayley has lost his appeal to have his 35 year prison sentence reduced.

Lawyers for the 42-year-old argued the sentence was excessive and asked for it to be reduced by 7 years, but the judge refused his application and ruled that Bayley would serve his full life sentence.

Adrian Bayley will be eligible for release at the age of 77

Bayley pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 35 years without parole in June for the rape and murder of Irishwoman Jill Meagher in a Melbourne suburb last September. 

Meagher, 29, was walking home from a pub in the town of Brunswick in the early hours of Saturday September 22nd 2012 when she disappeared on Sydney Road. 

Her body was discovered six days later buried in an area 50 kilometres from Brunswick. 

Police were aided by CCTV footage in their arrest of Adrian Bayley, who had been charged with a number of other sexual assaults in Melbourne dating as far back as 2000.

A massive level of social media attention was also said to have played a significant role in bringing the case to prominence. Five days after Meagher's disppearance a Facebook page had gathered more than 100,000 likes.