The decomposed human remains were found on Friday amid dirt and straw in a bin bound by Occy straps at an Oakleigh South storage facility being cleaned out by its new owners.

The decomposition suggested the person had been dead for at least 15 years, Detective Senior Sergeant Pixie Fuhmeister told reporters at the scene.

"That container has not been accessed for a number of years," she said.

"We are determining the matter as suspicious at the moment and it is very early days and what we are looking at is long-term decomposition of the body."

Workers first saw a black boot in the bin, which led to the discovery of the remains.

Police will investigate cold cases and missing persons registers to identify the remains, with Sgt Fuhmeister unable to confirm the gender of the body or whether it is intact.

A worker at the site earlier described how the discovery was made at the back of a warehouse.

"That's when they found a wheelie bin inside there which was tied up with Occy straps and then they opened that up and found a boot in there and the boot was attached to a body," the worker told ABC TV.

Police expect to remain at the scene into Saturday and will start searching lease records of storage containers, admitting a number of them have been abandoned for years.

"It was paid initially but it hasn't been paid for a number of years ... it's just been sitting there abandoned," Sgt Fuhmeister said of the allotment linked to the remains.

The Milgate Street property remains cordoned off and bags of evidence have been removed from the scene.

Australian Associated Press