Most Iraqi and Syrian refugees women, kids

Almost 70 per cent of Australia's special intake of 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees are women and children.

Families account for 99 per cent of the refugees taken into Australia, some of which do not include men, with more than 40 religious affiliations identified among the cohort.

The Abbott government in 2015 announced 12,000 additional humanitarian visas would be granted to persecuted groups in the war-torn countries.

All of the visas have been granted, with just 642 refugees yet to arrive in Australia as of April 28, a Senate hearing was told in Canberra on Tuesday.