Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the arrest of two brothers at Sydney Airport on suspicion they were travelling to fight in the Middle East is a sign tough new counter-terrorism laws are working.
The two brothers were detained on Friday under the new Foreign Fighters Act.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said their luggage was thoroughly searched before they were arrested.
"These two young people had obviously gained information via some means, had taken a very radical decision, ultimately without the knowledge of their parents, and their parents, as I understand it, were as shocked as any of us would be," he said.
In a statement, Australian Federal Police say the boys were "arrested under suspicion of attempting to prepare for incursions into foreign countries for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities."
Investigators won't say what was in the boys' luggage or whether the pair had any links to the self-proclaimed Islamic State group.
They were issued with court attendance notices and released into their parents' custody.
"These two young men, aged 16 and 17 are kids not killers and they shouldn't be allowed to go to a foreign land to fight and to come back to our shores eventually more radicalised," said Mr Dutton.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has warned others thinking of making the journey will be stopped.
"My message to anyone who is listening to the death cult is block your ears, block your ears. Don't even begin to think that you can leave," he said.
And for those already detained on terrorism-related charges, there are new restrictions in New South Wales prisons.
NSW Attorney-General Brad Hazzard said this includes a ban on speaking Arabic during visits for a select few inmates deemed extreme high-risk at the Goulburn Supermax prison.
"As a result of the heightened security, the risk to the community, we want all of those conversations recorded, we want them monitored at all times and we want those conversations in English so there is real-time awareness of what is being discussed," said Mr Hazzard, who is also NSW Justice Minister.
Keysar Trad, a Sydney Muslim community spokesman, said he supports the measure, provided an exemption is made for relatives who cannot speak English.
The New South Wales government says it's also running a pilot program introducing imams into the prison system to offer guidance for Islamic inmates.
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