One person has been charged and 15 people have been arrested following raids in Sydney and Brisbane.
Radio New Zealand is reporting via the ABC that court documents are expected to reveal the raids were aimed at a terrorist cell which planned to behead a member of the public in Sydney.
The documents are expected to say the plan involved snatching a random member of the public in Sydney, draping them in an Islamic State flag and beheading them on camera.
One person has been charged and 15 detained.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said intelligence reports suggested an Australian member of IS was directing networks back in Australia to perform “demonstration killings”.
More than 800 officers were involved in the large-scale raids as part of Operation Appleby in suburbs across Sydney’s west and north-west, with an unknown number of police involved in raids in Brisbane’s south-east.
Police said it was too early to say if anyone had been arrested in Brisbane.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman declined to comment, saying it was an operational matter.