Drones would hover over crowds at major events such as football finals and festivals under Victoria Police’s new three-year counter terrorism strategy.

Victoria's counter terrorism boss Ross Guenther warns that the threat of a terrorist attack is ever present, as police estimate that more than 200 foreign fighters are set to return to Australian soil.

The Age can exclusively reveal the police’s new in-depth plan to fight terror, which also includes recruiting elite university students to code-crack encrypted communication between suspected terrorists.

Drones would hover over crowds at major events under Victoria Police's counter-terrorism plan. Credit:AP

The strategy, to be launched on Wednesday, reveals all officers must do an online training course to help them identify those at risk of being radicalised.