Last year, the federal government announced it would resettle 12,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq over an 18-month period.
But only a handful of families have actually arrived since December.
During a meeting with NSW Police, as part of the 'Coffee with a Cop' initiative, members of the Assyrian community shared stories of relatives who remain displaced overseas and in refugee camps.
"I'm annoyed and I'm upset.”
Evlin Berendro, an Assyrian-Iraqi woman, arrived in Australia 10 years ago.
She told SBS she was concerned about her son, who is currently in Jordan, after fleeing Islamic State advances in Iraq.
Assyrian Iraqi woman Evlin Berendro (right) says she is worried about her son in Jordan Source: SBS
"A mum obviously misses her children and wishes for all of them to be around her,” she said.
“I pray for my children to be here so our family can be whole."
Assyrians are a Christian minority group present in Iraq and Syria, as well as other surrounding countries.
Carman Lazar from the Assyrian Resource Centre support group in Sydney, said she has helped process almost 7,000 visa applications for community members' relatives from Iraq and Syria in the past year.
She remains in the dark about the fate of those families.
"I'm annoyed and I'm upset,” Ms Lazar told SBS.
“The community is frustrated and I'm frustrated, because getting 500, 600 emails a day and having over 150 people visiting me each day, you know it's a bit (frustrating).
“Why am I frustrated? Because I have no answers for them."
Carmen Lazar (left) speaks with an Assyrian community member Source: SBS
Karim Saddek, who arrived in Australia as a refugee, said he was also waiting for a response to visa applications lodged for his family members more than a year ago.
"We've heard nothing, we have heard absolute nothing,” Mr Saddek said.
“You know we're scared for our families and their children. There is no life left there for them, and they have no money. That's the problem."
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told SBS the processing of refugees from Syria and Iraq would not be rushed.
“It will take time to identify those most in need and then carry out the appropriate checks before they come to Australia," the spokesman said.
“Australia is among the best countries in the world at refugee and humanitarian resettlement because of our thorough processes.”
NSW coordinator-general for refugee resettlement Professor Peter Shergold told SBS his state was preparing for a significant refugee intake.
"What we've got to make sure (of) is through education, through adult migrant English, through work experience, through internships, through jobs, that people are really integrated,” Professor Shergold said.
“We can help refugees who come here do what they want to do, which is take control of their own lives, be self-reliant, get educated, get jobs, build businesses."
Ms Lazar is pleading with the federal government to speed up refugee assessments.
"I plead (to) the government, on behalf of my community, to please lend a hand to these vulnerable people," she said.
