A NSW police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia there were reports of an unattended bag, prompting police to the Central Sydney office building on Friday afternoon.
'It was a precaution. We take this kind of matter seriously,' a police spokesman said.
Police said they've now deemed the scene is safe and have reopened the surrounding streets.
Michelle Winter from Adelaide said she was not scared as she saw on Facebook that police would be doing a test of the Sydney CBD Emergency Warning System during the day.
'We were told not to worry because they were doing a test – They released it on Facebook,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
The regular monthly test is normally tested on the last day of each month, but December has been brought forward due to Christmas and Boxing Day being next week.
But a NSW police officer on the ground told Daily Mail Australia it was not a routine check and a test of city had already occurred earlier in the day.
'There was a test of the central business district emergency management system earlier in the day.'
'There was nothing found in the bag. It was just a suspicious bag that someone had left behind.'
Kelly carter, who was visiting the site from parramatta in western Sydney told Daily Mail Australia it brought back awful memories from Monday's siege.
'Police told us to leave the area and I thought the worst' she said.
'It's terrifying, especially because it was right at the memorial site.'
It comes as thousands gathered at Martin Place to lay flowers in memory of the victims of Monday's seige, where a gunman took 18 people hostage.
Katrina Dawson, 38, and Tori Johnson, 34, died along with the self-styled sheik Man Haron Monis on Tuesday morning.
