Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has on Friday said it was "probable" that a terror attack would occur on Australian soil in the near future, as the threat from terrorists, particularly lone-wolf terrorists, was constantly changing.

Turnbull said the nation's counter-terrorism teams were "very mindful of the changing threat" posed by extremists, and added he had talked with French President Francois Holland about how Australia can best avoid a situation similar to that which occurred in Nice.

Earlier this month, more than 80 revelers celebrating Bastille Day in the city were killed.

"It's probable," Turnbull told Macquarie Radio of a terror attack on Australian soil, "the threat level has been, for some time now, probable."

"We have security measures in place, but to take the example of Nice, if there are going to be large numbers of people in a place, then we have to think about what we do physically to prevent, for instance, a vehicle getting access."

Despite the threat of terrorism in Australia, Turnbull said he was confident that police and counter-terrorism forces would continue to foil any threats before they can affect the public, and added that it was important that Australians continue to live their day-to-day lives.