The Australian police on Tuesday detained an alleged Islamic State (IS) sympathiser, suspected of plotting a mass shooting on the New Year's Eve in Melbourne's Victoria state.

The Anadolu Agency quoted Victoria police deputy commissioner Shane Patton, as saying, that the police conducted a joint counter-terrorism operation to nab the 20-year-old suspect.

The deputy commissioner said that the police was monitoring the man, who is an an Australian citizen with Somalian parents and he was intending to open-fire on people.

"We have been monitoring him for a very lengthy period of time. What we will be alleging is that he was intending to use a firearm to shoot and kill as many people as he could," Patton said.

"We are alleging that...he is a sympathizer of ISIS [Daesh]," Patton added.