John Shipton told the PA news agency he felt "elated" at hearing the news of his son's dramatic journey from the UK following his dramatic release from prison after five years of fighting extradition to the United States over the publication of a trove of classified documents.
Assange has reached a plea deal with US authorities in which he will admit to an US Espionage Act charge of obtaining and disclosing information of national importance, with a proposed sentence of time served.
He will return to his home country of Australia after his plea and sentencing, scheduled for Wednesday in the Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific.
His father said recent court hearings in the UK had given him hope that the "tide was turning" in his son's favour, as well as increasing pressure from the Australian government.
Speaking from Australia, Shipton said he hoped his son would spend time "walking along beaches and listening to birds" in the next few weeks and months.
"I had an inkling that something was changing from the demeanour of the court in the last few hearings, especially with the concerns articulated by the judges," Shipton said on Tuesday.
"I never gave up hope, never collapsed into despair that this day would arrive. I am absolutely elated - it is as though a huge burden has been lifted."
Shipton praised the support of the Australian public, parliamentarians and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for ending the "persecution" of his son.
He said there was "plenty of room" in Australia for Julian Assange and his wife and two children to live.
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