After spending nearly a decade working as a judge in Kabul, Farah Attahee is grappling with the difficulties of starting her life from scratch in Sydney.
In Afghanistan, she was involved in sentencing Taliban members and other criminals, many of whom were freed after the group seized control in August last year.
With her life in danger, Mrs Attahee was evacuated from Kabul along with her husband and three children, before their arrival in Australia nine months ago.
"Sometimes I think to myself, now I'm safe, but I lost [my] country and [my] profession as a judge," she said.
"To spend [so long] to become educated and serve my people … to [now] be wiped from society...it's very hard.
"I feel my dreams and hopes died overnight."
She was one of 17 women judges who fled the country with the assistance of non-profit organisation, the International Association of Women Judges, and now resides in Australia.
While she was forced to leave her job in her homeland, Mrs Attahee has not abandoned hopes of pursuing a legal career in Australia.
"I don't want to give up. I want to … start my [legal] education here," she said.
"I'm optimistic about my future."
The Taliban takeover also transformed life for women in other fields.
For football player Manozh Noori, it was a day that remains etched in her memory.
"I felt completely hopeless when the takeover happened," she said.
"I thought that I'd never be able to study or play football again."
Ms Noori was one of several members of Afghanistan's national women's football team who were evacuated to Australia last year.
The federal government gave humanitarian protection to dozens of the players, after a campaign by former Afghanistan captain Khalida Popal and ex-Socceroo Craig Foster.
She currently plays for the Melbourne Victory Afghan Women's Team and hopes to represent Australia in the future.
While she is free to pursue her sporting dreams, she holds grave concerns about family members left behind.
"My whole family is in Afghanistan and currently their lives are in danger, they aren't in a good situation," she said.
"My sister is also a footballer, but she wasn't able to make it out."
More than 219,000 Afghans have applied for humanitarian visas since the Taliban takeover.
But over a year later, only around 7,000 visas have been granted.
The Department of Home Affairs said it's received an "unprecedented" number of visa applications, with additional staff allocated to clear the backlog.
"The government is committed to generous and flexible humanitarian and settlement programs that meet Australia's international protection obligations," a spokesperson said in a statement.
Lawyer Arif Hussein, from the Refugee Advice and Casework Service, said the process was frustratingly slow.
"For a lot of our clients, we're still waiting to receive an acknowledgement that their [visa] applications have been received and are being processed," he said.
According to figures from the Department of Home Affairs, around 60 per cent of the humanitarian visa applications lodged have been registered and acknowledged.
In March, Australia allocated an additional 16,500 places for Afghan refugees over the next four years.
It fell short of the 20,000 places advocates had been calling for.
Mr Hussein said it was disappointing that there were no changes to this figure in the latest federal budget.
"The Albanese government is yet to make a single announcement or take any action that recognises our moral obligation to the people of Afghanistan and the need for humanitarian assistance," he said.
For Ms Noori, the anxious wait to be reunited with her loved ones continues.
"The [Afghan women soccer players] are under a lot of stress and it's affecting us mentally," she said.
"We've lodged the [visa] application forms and we're waiting every day to see if there's any news about our family."
