Updated

A 17-year-old boy arrested last week when police allegedly found three homemade bombs in his family home in Australia's second-largest city has appeared in a children's court charged with terrorism offenses.

The boy is a juvenile suspect and cannot be publicly identified. He was remanded in custody after a brief court appearance in a Melbourne Children's Court on Monday charged with planning a terrorist act somewhere in Victoria state and with possessing items connected with a terrorist act.

He faces a potential sentence of life in prison if convicted.

The boy did not enter a plea and did not apply for bail. He will appear next on May 26.