Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed 76 Australians and Afghans with visas were evacuated from Kabul with the help of British forces overnight.
It comes as Australians and visa holders still stuck in Afghanistan are urged to head to Kabul airport for another rescue flight, set to leave later on Thursday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a public notice on social media on Thursday afternoon, urging "Australian citizens, permanent residents & Australian visa-holders" to travel to Kabul's airport for an evacuation flight.
Two large military aircraft have been on standby to deploy to Kabul to continue evacuation efforts.
Twenty-five Australians and Afghan nationals, as well as one foreign official, were evacuated on Wednesday morning from Kabul , despite the aircraft having room for more than 100 people.
Mr Morrison said those already evacuated - just over 100 so far - will be brought to Perth from the Al Minhad airbase in the United Arab Emirates on a flight leaving on Thursday afternoon.
He said the evacuees would receive medical and mental health support when they arrived.
Mr Morrison said Australia was working in a challenging environment on the ground in Kabul, with many countries involved in evacuation operations.
The windows of opportunity for Australian evacuations were narrow and Australian military planes have to take the slots that become available, he said.
Government sources in Australia have been told some interpreters who worked for Australia and Afghan nationals with visas managed to get on British flights overnight.
'A floor, not a ceiling'
The prime minister also flagged the government could increase the number of refugee visas reserved for Afghans fleeing the Taliban from the 3,000 previously announced.
"We see this as a floor, not a ceiling, so we think we can achieve more than three (thousand)," he told reporters.
"If the overall program has to be expanded, it will be."
The government has come under fire for its humanitarian offerings so far, which lag behind those made by other countries.
The visas will also come from Australia’s existing refugee program, which is capped at 13,750 places a year.
Mr Morrison said he held a phone conference with Afghan community leaders earlier on Thursday discussing the issues around the refugee intake.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia was concerned about reports of Taliban members attempting to control crowds around the airport with gunfire and violence.
“Australia is not outside the airport at all. Any issues about security outside the airport, we are working with partners on those (issues), particularly led by the US,” she said.
“We continue to contact those Australians and visa holders and support them where we can to get through those checkpoints and into the airport.”
