Delegation wants more Afghan refugee spots

Ms Veiszadeh came to Australia on a humanitarian visa at the age of seven, and says she feels that had she stayed behind, her life would also be at risk.

"There are millions of other Afghans that face a treacherous future... it could have easily been me in those circumstances," she told AAP.

Ms Veiszadeh, from the Afghanistan-Australia Advocacy Network, is part of a delegation of veterans, activists and religious leaders meeting with minister Alex Hawke on Monday to demand more refugee places for people fleeing Afghanistan.

The government announced last month it would allocate 15,000 humanitarian and family visa places to Afghan nationals over the next four years.

But according to Home Affairs figures, immigration authorities had already received 32,000 primary claims for humanitarian visas by last November, representing well in excess of 100,000 people applying.

Ms Veiszadeh said the government's response so far has not been not proportionate to the crisis.

"We spent two decades in Afghanistan as part of the military campaign - it is our moral duty to bring as many people to safety as we can," she said.

The Taliban surged back to power in Afghanistan in September 2021 after two decades of fighting US-led coalition forces. 

According to the UNHCR, more than 600,000 people have fled the country since January 2021, and another 3 million Afghans are internally displaced.

Rev Tim Costello, who will also be part of the delegation, called on the government to allow an additional 20,000 refugee places for Afghans over the next two years.

"There are currently more than 84 million people forcibly displaced in the world. There is so much need, but instead of growing our intake our federal government is keeping a very tight cap on our intake."

"If you have unexpected guests arrive at your house for dinner, you don't just cut everyone a smaller slice of pie - you bake a bigger pie, you offer what you can," he said.