--- description: Australian counterterrorism officials say they have foiled an imminent terrorist attack after the arrest of two men in Sydney title: Australian Police Say ISIS-Inspired Terrorist Plot Foiled image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta185e2af2830c4cc/69877e9c0b72e303266dd9d6/rtr4p2we.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Australia](/tag/australia/) ## Australia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # An ISIS-Inspired Terrorist Plot Has Been Foiled, Say Australian Police by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2015 3:26 AM CUT  Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan, right, listens as New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn speaks during a media conference in Sydney on Feb. 11, 2015 Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan, right, listens as New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn speaks during a media conference in Sydney on Feb. 11, 2015Lincoln Feast—Reuters by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2015 3:26 AM CUT Australian counterterrorism officials say they have foiled an imminent terrorist attack after the [arrest](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/11/us-australia-security-police-idUSKBN0LE2V520150211 "undefined") of two men at a house in western Sydney. The suspects have been charged with terrorist offenses, Reuters reports. Police say a homemade ISIS flag was found at the house, as well as a machete, a hunting knife and “a video which depicted a man talking about carrying out an attack.” New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn accused the suspects of “preparing to do this act yesterday.” Australia’s national threat level has been on “high” since last September, when news broke out that militants were planning to publicly behead a random member of the public. The country is also concerned with homegrown militancy. Dozens of its citizens are said to be fighting for ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and last December a gunman with ISIS sympathies held up a central Sydney café, leading to the death of two hostages. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/11/us-australia-security-police-idUSKBN0LE2V520150211 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3704388/isis-australia-sydney-terrorist-plot/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3704388/isis-australia-sydney-terrorist-plot/"},"headline":"An ISIS-Inspired Terrorist Plot Has Been Foiled, Say Australian Police","datePublished":"2015-02-11T03:26:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:11:16.427Z","description":"Two men were arrested with a machete and an ISIS flag","url":"https://time.com/3704388/isis-australia-sydney-terrorist-plot/","keywords":["Australia","Terrorism","ISIS","sydney"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta185e2af2830c4cc/69877e9c0b72e303266dd9d6/rtr4p2we.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sabrina Toppa","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta185e2af2830c4cc/69877e9c0b72e303266dd9d6/rtr4p2we.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan (R) listens as New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn speaks during a media conference in Sydney February 11, 2015","caption":"Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan (R) listens as New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn speaks during a media conference in Sydney February 11, 2015","creditText":"Lincoln Feast—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/australia/","name":"Australia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3704388/isis-australia-sydney-terrorist-plot/","name":"An ISIS-Inspired Terrorist Plot Has Been Foiled, Say Australian Police"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Australian Police - These Men Were Not on our Radar","description":"Australian Police make two arrests after a terror raid in Sydeny.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dFmJn0Uk/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-11T06:02:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dFmJn0Uk.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3704388/isis-australia-sydney-terrorist-plot/","duration":"PT43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3704388/isis-australia-sydney-terrorist-plot/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```