A US report that found Australia is ranked equal third among Western nations as a target for Islamic State-inspired terror attacks comes as no surprise to local authorities, the federal government says.
The US congressional committee report found Australia has been targeted by more IS-linked terrorism plots than Belgium, Israel and Germany over the last two years.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the report confirmed the view of local authorities.
"What I can say is that there is no country that is better prepared to deal with the threat of global terrorism than Australia," he told reporters in Adelaide on Thursday.
The Australian Parliament is due to pass a fifth tranche of counter terrorism laws when MPs sit later this month.
According to the report, the US was the top target among western nations with 41, France was second with 20 and Australia and the United Kingdom were equal third with eight.
The US House Committee on Homeland Security report describes the 100-plus attacks against western countries since 2014 as "an unprecedented wave of terror".
"ISIS-linked attacks against the west have been responsible for more than 1600 casualties since 2014," the committee's report states.
"The three highest-casualty attacks all occurred within the past year, including the November assault in Paris (480 people), the attack in Brussels (335 people), and the recent truck massacre in Nice (286 people)."
Belgium was fifth on the list with seven IS-linked terrorism plots while Germany and Spain were next with five.
Israel and Indonesia both had one.
The report found 89 per cent of suspects were military-aged males, with the average age 26, and attacks were getting deadlier and more destructive with the average number of casualties per attack jumping the last year from 48 to 58.
Most of the terror group's external operations were carried out by independent followers inspired by IS, rather than those who worked for the group directly.
US authorities, according to the report, have identified individuals tied to terrorism in Syria who have attempted to enter the US as refugees.
"Refugee flows have become a key pathway for terrorists to expand their reach into western countries," the report states.
"ISIS has advanced its operations by infiltrating operatives into the flow of refugees from the Middle East, including to plan attacks in Belgium, France, Germany, and Turkey."
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