Attorney-General George Brandis can't rule out the possibility that would-be terrorists have already departed Australia by boat.
Senator Brandis confirmed on Wednesday that five Melbourne men are in custody accused of planning to travel to Syria via Indonesia to join Islamic State.
The men, aged 21 to 33, whose passports had been cancelled, were arrested north of Cairns where it is believed they planned to launch a boat to travel to Indonesia.
Senator Brandis said it was the first attempt to leave Australia by vessel of which authorities were aware.
But he couldn't guarantee there had not been others.
"I can't rule out the possibility that there may be others," he told reporters in Townsville.
Senator Brandis said the men were believed to have towed a seven-metre boat by road from Melbourne to far north Queensland with the intention of getting to Syria to engage in terrorist activities.
"The suspicion is that they were seeking to leave Australia by vessel to avoid the fact that they couldn't travel by air because their passports had been cancelled," he said.
No charges have yet been laid but eight search warrants have been executed in Melbourne on Wednesday following Tuesday's arrests.
The arrests demonstrated the threat of Australians engaging in terrorist acts including in foreign countries remained "real and present", Senator Brandis said.
Authorities won't specify exactly where the men were arrested for operational reasons.
Senator Brandis said police had had visibility of the men for some time.
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