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A Melbourne schoolboy who travelled to the Middle East to fight with Islamic State (IS) has reportedly died in a suicide attack in Iraq, the BBC reported.

Jake Bilardi, an 18-year-old Muslim convert, left Australia last year and flew via Turkey to Iraq.

An image emerged on Wednesday purportedly showing him behind the wheel of a white van with the caption "may God accept him."

The Australian government said it had not been able to confirm the reports.

But Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it was "an absolutely horrific situation."

"It shows the lure of this death cult to impressionable youngsters," he said.

"It's very, very important that we do everything we can to try to safeguard our young people against the lure of this shocking alien and extreme ideology."

Australia estimates that 90 of its citizens are fighting for IS in Syria and Iraq, with 150 more at home sympathetic to the group.

The foreign affairs department said its "capacity to confirm reports of deaths in either Syria or Iraq is extremely limited."