Aid agencies have slammed the slow pace at which Syrian and Iraqi refugees are being resettled in Australia.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says 3532 refugees have been settled - less than a third of the 12,000 former prime minister Tony Abbott promised to resettle a year ago.
He says 6678 visas have been issued, while another 6293 people had been interviewed and assessed as meeting requirements for a visa and were awaiting health and security checks.
Six of Australia's leading aid agencies have joined to condemn the slow pace.
They're questioning why Canada has been able to resettle almost 30,000 refugees in just four months.
"There is a point at which a promise begins to look hollow when it is not honoured and Australia has reached that point," World Vision boss Tim Costello said.
Mr Dutton has defended the slow intake, insisting Australians should concentrate on the positives of allowing people an opportunity for a new life.
"My priority is to make sure I never compromise the security of our country," he told ABC radio on Friday.
Paris Aristotle, chair of the minister's advisory council on asylum seekers, said the program was on track after a slow start.
About 1000 refugees would now be arriving each month.
"I would share people's concerns that it's taken awhile to get people here," he told ABC radio.
"It was a very slow process in terms of the numbers of people arriving in the early stages - that doesn't mean there wasn't a whole lot of work being done."
Mr Aristotle said a further 4850 people from Syria and Iraq had arrived as part of Australia's base program.
Canada had taken a different approach to processing, taking in refugees and keeping them in camp-type situations until processing was complete while Australia had chosen to process them offshore.
