Australia must do more for Afghanistan

Nearly five years after the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan remains one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, and one that has deteriorated markedly since Australia’s 2021 parliamentary inquiry (Opens in new window) first set out a roadmap for action. The Australian government’s 2026 response to that inquiry arrived late, and – by its own admission – concludes that “a substantive Government response is no longer appropriate (Opens in new window)” given the passage of time. The delay is notable, but risks obscuring the urgency of the present moment.

The scale of need today is stark. Almost 22 million Afghans (Opens in new window), around half the population, require humanitarian assistance. What was, in 2021, a country on the brink of collapse has since become a protracted humanitarian emergency characterised by deepening poverty, food insecurity, a hollowed-out economy, and the systematic erosion of women’s rights. Earlier warnings (Opens in new window) by the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) of widespread hunger, displacement and institutional breakdown have materialised.

Australia has not been absent in response. Since 2021, the government has committed over $310 million in humanitarian and basic needs assistance (Opens in new window), delivered through UN agencies and trusted partners to support food, health care, water and protection services. At a time when major US aid cuts, amounting to approximately US$2 billion (Opens in new window) and removing up to half of humanitarian financing in Afghanistan, have left serious funding gaps, Australia’s continued contributions are important to sustaining essential services and preventing further deterioration in humanitarian conditions.

Australia has also played a constructive role in advancing accountability. Its participation, alongside partners, in legal action addressing the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (Opens in new window) helps uphold international norms. Combined with targeted sanctions and continued advocacy in multilateral forums, these steps reinforce pressure on the Taliban and signal that gross human rights violations will not go unchallenged.

Yet these efforts sit alongside a notable gap: the absence of a clear, forward-looking response to the inquiry’s recommendations. ACFID’s 2021 submission (Opens in new window) laid out a comprehensive framework, calling for increased, multi-year humanitarian funding, expanded refugee pathways including an additional 20,000 places, prioritisation of at-risk Afghan aid workers, and stronger investment in local civil society and women-led initiatives. These proposals were grounded in operational experience and reflected principled humanitarian imperatives.

The continued relevance of these recommendations is difficult to ignore, given the worsening context. Treating these recommendations as overtaken by time risks overlooking their adaptability to a protracted crisis that demands sustained, strategic engagement rather than short-term responses.

In its response to the inquiry, the government acknowledged the “growing Australia Afghanistan community (Opens in new window)” and the profound concern felt within it about conditions in Afghanistan. Many members of this community provided evidence to the original inquiry, of their own experience, concerns about family members still at risk, and offering practical insights into how Australia’s policies could better respond to needs on the ground.

Their contributions were not peripheral; they were central to understanding the human impact of policy decisions across humanitarian assistance, visa processing, and family reunification. The inquiry’s recommendations, particularly those relating to humanitarian visas, family unity, and engagement with diaspora and local NGOs, reflect this evidence. The passage of time has not diminished the relevance of these concerns. If anything, prolonged delays in processing and limited pathways for reunification have only deepened anxiety within diaspora communities, many of whom remain closely connected to those still in Afghanistan.

Humanitarian assistance is now Australia’s primary lever of engagement in Afghanistan. With military and diplomatic presence withdrawn, aid, protection pathways, diaspora engagement, and multilateral advocacy form the core of Australia’s influence. This places a premium on coherence and ambition in Australia's Afghanistan policy.

The government’s response rightly reaffirms that Australia “stands with the people of Afghanistan (Opens in new window)” but standing with them in 2026 demands more than maintaining existing commitments. It requires a renewed strategy that reflects the scale of need and draws on the lessons of the parliamentary inquiry, sector expertise, and diaspora testimony.

Australia has taken concrete steps, through sustained funding, international legal action, and continued advocacy. The task now is to ensure that these efforts evolve to meet a crisis that has become more entrenched and more complex over time.

After years of delay and worsening conditions, the question is not whether the recommendations still matter, but whether Australia is prepared to act on them with the urgency the situation demands.