Liaqat Khan risked his life to help Australia.
Now, he calls the country home.
The 25-year-old Afghan national, now living in Newcastle, New South Wales, worked with the Australian military as an interpreter and adviser during the Afghanistan mission.
Mr Khan says Afghan aides to the Australian Defence Force were killed on the field and, in other cases, afterward in their homes.
Mr Khan worked with Australia's military from 2009 until 2014, making him a target of the Taliban, too.
No longer safe in his homeland, Mr Khan, his wife and their children were granted Australian visas under the offshore humanitarian program.
In 2014, the family resettled in Newcastle. But he says, while safety is no longer an issue, his family is still making sacrifices.
"I couldn't visit my family during the last four years, and two of my brothers had weddings but I couldn't attend due to security. I'd love to visit, I'd love to be there, because I'm the oldest of my family. So there was a need for me to be there, but I couldn't go due to (the) security situation."
Mr Khan is one of around 800 Afghan nationals -- employees of the Australian Defence Force and their families -- who have been granted Australian visas since 2013.
Around 300 have resettled in Newcastle.
But Sister Diana Santleben, who runs Zara's House, a refugee-support centre in Newcastle, says the Afghans are not getting the treatment they deserve.
"They have given everything for Australia. They've given their homeland, they've given their professions, they've given their families, they've given their safety. The rest of their family are in dire danger because of their commitment. And we're not ... we're not falling over ourselves to respect that service."
Mr Khan says he hopes to continue his work with the Australian military but cannot until he is an Australian citizen.
And that is not possible until 2018, when he will have spent four years in the country.
He says he still hopes to become an Australian citizen as soon as possible.
At a local Anzac memorial service, Mr Khan thanked the military for its work in his homeland.
Addressing the crowd in an impromptu speech, he said he strongly appreciated the sacrifices made in Afghanistan by Australian soldiers.
Mr Khan's speech also caught the attention of Newcastle's Lord Mayor, Nuatali Nelmes.
Ms Nelmes says she is proud the Afghan nationals are part of the Newcastle community.
***
