NSW Assistant Commissioner Nick Kaldas moved to reassure the public on Thursday following a newspaper report about a foiled plot to bomb Kings Cross Station.
A newspaper report linked the alleged foiled plot to two Australian brothers who had been detained in Yemen.
"The main message I want to convey today, to the people of NSW, is that there is no imminent threat," Mr Kaldas told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
"We're in good stead, we have an excellent framework in place, we exercise and have a good working relationship with all the agencies that we need to work with ... there is no need for alarm."
He said the media report had confused details from three separate incidents, which police do not believe are linked.
This includes the arrest of 20 terrorist suspects in Sydney and Melbourne in November last year as part of Operation Pendennis.
It also included the arrest of another man over an alleged plot to plant an explosive, perhaps in the vicinity of Kings Cross, Mr Kaldas said.
The third element is the arrest of the brothers in Yemen, he said.
Meanwhile, the lawyer for the two Australian brothers detained in Yemen has written to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer criticising the Federal government for its handling of the case.
Mohammad and Abdullah Ayub and a third Australian man, Marat Sumolsky, were arrested last month and are believed to be facing terrorism charges over an alleged plot to smuggle guns to Islamist militants in Somalia.
Despite repeated requests Australian consular officials have so far been denied access to the trio.
"These people were arrested two and a half weeks ago and Alexander Downer tell us that there's been no contact - to me that's unacceptable. He's the Foreign Minister of Australia, I don't think it's too hard to pick up a telephone and speak to the relevant authorities in the Yemen and to get answers," said Adam Houda, who is representing Mohammad and Abdullah Ayub.
He's described the two brothers, aged 18 and 20, as "kids" who've been studying Islam at a private college in Yemen for the past three years.
Mr Houda says he's particularly concerned about his clients' wellbeing.