A man has been detained by Australian Federal Police officers outside the ministerial wing of Parliament House in Canberra.

Police have cordoned a section of the road around the building.

An ambulance arrived at the scene shortly before 1pm (AEDT) on Thursday as police restrained the man on a grassed area outside the ministerial entrance.

It is understood the man, believed to be in his 30s, threatened police with a knife.

“@ElouiseFowler: Ambo now arriving at ministerial wing pic.twitter.com/GWRTptYKbD”

— Matt Moran (@mattmoran10news) January 8, 2015

Police say they tried to persuade the man to hand over the knife, but he refused to and was tasered.

He was then taken into custody.

Police say there are no national security concerns regarding the incident.

It comes after a heightened level of awareness due to a terror attack in Paris in which 12 people were shot dead at a magazine.

— with AAP