Three 'ISIS-inspired' men have been charged with terrorism crimes after allegedly plotting a massacre on the streets of Melbourne.

The three men, arrested in the city's north-west on Tuesday after four raids, are of Turkish background and were allegedly trying to get hold of a semi-automatic rifle.

Police claim the trio, who may have attended the same Islamic centre as the Bourke Street attacker, wanted to 'kill a maximum amount of people as possible' in a crowded place.

Hanifi Halis, 21, from Greenvale, was one of three men arrested for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack on the streets of Melbourne

His home in Greenvale was one of the houses raided by police on Tuesday morning

Police appeared to have cut into the rollerdoor to gain access to the house when they stormed in

The men arrested were Hanifi Halis, 21, from Greenvale, Ertunc Eriklioglu, 30, from Dallas and Samed Eriklioglu, 26, from Campbellfield. Officers also raided a home in Coolaroo.

All three were hours later charged with one count each of act in preparation for, or planning of terrorist acts and will face Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, the AFP said.

The arrests come just 11 days after ISIS-inspired knifeman Hassan Khalif Shire Ali stabbed three, killing one, on Melbourne's Bourke Street.

The funeral for his victim, cafe owner Sisto Malaspina, takes place on Tuesday morning.

Police raided four properties in Melbourne's north-west on Tuesday morning as part of a joint counter-terrorism operation

The raids were part of Operation Donabate, which involved Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and other agencies

Three men were taken into custody following the police raids for allegedly plotting a massacre on the streets of Melbourne. Pictured, police outside a home which was raided

A woman believed to be the wife of Ertunc Eriklioglu said she knew nothing of the alleged plot.

'Go and ask him yourself,' she told a media pack perched outside her door. 'I'm not okay. I don't know (what happened). Go and ask him.'

A young woman draped head-to-toe in a black niqab lashed out at media as she visited the Dallas property.

'You guys are cockroaches,' she said.

Police made the woman move her car from outside the home three times as she continued to block other residents and workmen inside the block of units.

It is understood the woman knew absolutely nothing about the planned attack and has co-operated fully with police.

Neighbours of the family said they were shocked about the early morning raid on the young family's home, where police appeared to have smashed their way in through a window.

Neighbours of the family said they were shocked about the early morning raid on the Ertunc Eriklioglu's home in Dallas

Police appeared to have smashed their way in through a window in the property

Broken glass lay under windows of the house where police smashed their way inside

Other broken windows in the house in Dallas, Melbourne, where police appeared to have entered

One neighbour said they noticed a change in the woman's husband about a year ago when he and a group of friends stopped visiting the nearby mosque and stared praying in his garage.

'He keeps to himself. He doesn't speak to any of us. We thought it was strange that he was praying in the garage,' she said.

She and other neighbours thought the practice unusual, but never suspected he was involved in a terrorist plot.

The neighbour said her friend was 'distraught' over the allegations against her husband.

'I would suspect she doesn't know anything about it because I'm friends with her - our kids play together and I never suspected any of this,' she said.

A young woman draped head-to-toe in a black niqab lashed out at media as she visited the Dallas property

'You guys are cockroaches,' she said as she entered the home of Ertunc Eriklioglu

Police seize bags of evidence from inside the home after morning raids and arrests

Other bags of evidence were taken out of the house by plain-clothed officers

A neighbour said she noticed a dramatic change in the household about a year ago

'They were not like this before. They were not like this at all. Before he used to talk with us,' the neighbour said

The neighbour said she noticed a dramatic change in the household about a year ago.

'They were not like this before. They were not like this at all. Before he used to talk with us,' she said.

Two of the men arrested on Tuesday are family members and all three have had their Australian passports cancelled this year.

Officers arrested the men following an extensive eight-month investigation, with the trio said to have been 'energised' in the days after the Bourke Street attack.

Another home in Coolaroo was also raided by police along with those of the alleged terrorists

A police cra sits outside the Coolaroo house on Tuesday. It was not known what connection this home had to the suspects

The men were allegedly planning to massacre dozens in a crowded place in Melbourne, although police said a specific location was never finalised.

'There was a view towards a crowded place, a place where maximum people would be attending, to be able, to kill, we allege, as a maximum amount of people as possible,' Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said.

'I believe, over more recent days, attempts have been made to source a 0.22 semi-automatic rifle to assist with the carrying out of that terrorism event.

'Fortunately, this is an event we've been able to deal with in relation to our counter-terrorism operation and therefore have been in a position to intercept it prior to it being completed.'

A number of heavily-armed officers swarmed the four properties on Tuesday morning

Police have stressed there is no ongoing threat to the community but residents are being urged to report any suspicious activity to authorities

One of the men had his Australian passport cancelled in January, another had his cancelled in March and the third in October.

Two have no criminal history.

Police have stressed there is no ongoing threat to the community but residents are being urged to report any suspicious activity to authorities.

'Victoria Police would like to reassure the community that the threat has been contained and there is no ongoing threat,' Victoria Police said in a statement.

The trio are expected to face court later on Tuesday, where they will face charges which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.