TONY Abbott has announced the Australian terror threat has been raised from medium to high, meaning an attack is "likely" on home soil.
"Last night the director general of security, ASIO head David Irvine, raised the terror threat to high," the PM revealed at a press conference in Melbourne.
"Consequently the government today is raising the public alert level to high."
The PM stressed "this does not mean that a terror attack is imminent."
"We have no specific intelligence of a particular plot," he said.
"What we do have is that there are people with the intent and capability to mount attacks."
The announcement comes after ASIO's outgoing chief David Irvine this week revealed security authorities were "actively considering" raising Australia's terrorism threat level.