Emergency services crews evacuated Myer and David Jones department stores at the centre late on Thursday afternoon, then checked the stores for suspicious packages or people after a threatening phone call was made to the triple 0 emergency number.

They found nothing and shoppers were allowed to return to the stores. There were no injuries and centre manager Scott Sullivan said the evacuation was a safety precaution. He said "staff co-operated with the relevant authorities to investigate the issue and to ensure the centre was entirely safe".

"The safety of retail staff and visitors to the Centre is always our utmost priority and was never at risk," he said.

Mr Sullivan said the centre would work with authorities to investigate.