12 Australian women allegedly tried to join ISIS

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At least 12 Australian women from one city have attempted to join ISIS, police said on Friday, warning of a trend towards a "romanticised view" of violent jihadists.

More than 100 Australians have left the country to support ISIS in Syria and Iraq, raising concerns about radicalisation and whether they pose a security threat on return, the authorities have said. At least 30 have been killed overseas.

Victoria Police assistant commissioner Tracy Linford said those attracted to ISIS were mostly young, isolated people swayed by slick social media propaganda.

In the case of women, they often had a romantic idea of what life would be like under ISIS control, she said, adding that at least 12 had attempted to join from Melbourne, Victoria's capital city.

"We've got five [women] that we know are over there," Linford said, adding that two more were unaccounted for, four were turned back outside Australia and one was stopped at the airport before leaving.

"But we also suspect that there are probably more than 12," she told reporters.

Linford's comments came just days after a Sydney mother reportedly abandoned her two children and fled to Syria for a new life under ISIS.