For the last seven years, Hussaini has been a volunteer with the local SES station.
"This is a second family," he tells SBS News.
"With this limbo life I’ve been through for 11 years, waiting to get a piece of paper, a permanent visa, if I didn’t have the SES around me, I might not be here right now and standing here talking to you."
When floods devastated the regionlast year, Hussaini was on hand for months, working through Christmas and New Year's Eve to not only provide flood assistance but also information to the local ref ugee community.