Australia's New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says a teenager has been arrested and charged with a terrorism offence related to planning an attack at today's ANZAC commemorations.

The 16-year-old boy was arrested near his Sydney home on Sunday and will appear before a children's court on Monday, police said.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

ANZAC Day, April 25, is a major annual holiday in Australia and New Zealand marking the date of the first Gallipoli landings in 1915, in which large numbers of Australian and New Zealand troops fought and died.

Dawn services and military parades are held around the country, with the largest drawing crowds of tens of thousands in Sydney and Melbourne.

Several teenagers have been arrested in Australia in recent years and charged with terrorism offences.

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