?Tragic? delays: documents reveal Australia knew time was running out to extract Afghan staff

The Australian government was warned in mid-July that the worsening security situation in Afghanistan and Covid restrictions were making it "extremely difficult" to help former Afghan employees escape the country, previously secret documents reveal.

At least five weeks before the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban in mid-August, government officials predicted more people would seek to flee the country and they were discussing the possibility of chartering direct flights from Kabul to Australia.

Guardian Australia can also reveal the governor general, David Hurley, sought a private briefing from the immigration minister in July about the program to assist former Afghan colleagues - as the government was facing increasing public criticism about its handling of the longstanding scheme.

Documents obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information (FOI) laws reveal a charter flight option was initially "considered a high risk", even though officials also warned on 12 July that commercial flight options "will become very limited".

Later in July, officials began making more concrete arrangements for a charter flight, amid concerns pandemic border rules were slowing arrivals of Afghan nationals to Australia in the weeks leading up to the Taliban's takeover.

The revelations will add to the concerns of critics who say the Australian government was too slow to help Afghan nationals as it pulled its troops and diplomats out of Afghanistan, culminating in the emergency military-led evacuation effort in the final fortnight of August.

"It's one of the most tragic examples of this government doing too little, too late," Labor's foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, said.