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They have two spare bedrooms, a penchant for Sri Lankan cooking and benevolent hearts ??? and the Melbourne couple want to open their home to Syrian refugees
Callum Dittmar, 32, and his wife Naomi Wijeyesekera, 30, are among scores of Australian households keen to share their homes with those who need it. 
On Thursday, Treasurer Joe Hockey said it might take more than two years to resettle in Australia all of the 12,000-Syrian-refugee intake announced this week, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to include refugees languishing in offshore detention in the emergency intake.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the government was working with the states and territories, as well as churches and community groups, on the best way to house the refugees  ??? the largest intake in a single year since World War II.
Federal MPs have received calls from constituents wanting to host refugees in their homes, and the website enoughRoom.org has been set up to match hosts with refugees.
Mr Dittmar, an IT worker from Sydenham, was moved by the scale of the Syrian humanitarian crisis and feels "an obligation to help".
"I live in a three-bedroom house, we've got a couple of spare bedrooms. I could host them for as long as needed, until they were settled," he said.
He said he and his wife would help refugees access services, food and clothes.
"My wife is of Sri Lankan heritage so they are likely to get a Sri Lankan meal before they get Australian cuisine," he said.
Social Services Minister Scott Morrison said he was heartened by the support being offered to Syrian refugees.
"[The] government will be working closely with our settlement service providers, Syrian and Iraqi community groups to determine how best to accommodate the generous contributions and support Australians are seeking to give," he said.
In   May 2012 under Labor, families were eligible for a small stipend to provide short-term homestay accommodation to asylum seekers moving out of detention on bridging visas.
Mr Morrison, then the opposition immigration spokesman, expressed concern over the plan, saying it was reckless to "place asylum seekers in suburban homes and communities, where there is no consultation with neighbours or the police".
AMES Australia chief executive Cath Scarth, whose organisation helps resettle refugees, said homestays were "a fantastic idea" but must be well executed.
"Any program to have people host refugees would have to be properly supported with appropriate cultural information and counselling," she said, adding police checks should be run on hosts and refugees should be comfortable with the arrangement.
AMES is in talks with the Victorian and federal government about the concept, which would also involve councils, Ms Scarth said.
On Thursday Mr Hockey said the resettlement costs would depend on "the speed in which we can process applications.
"There are some estimates that we could do it in a two-year period. There are some estimates that it may take a little bit longer," he said.
In Papua New Guinea, Mr Abbott insisted Syrian asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island detention centres would not be resettled as part of the intake because that would encourage "the evil trade of people smuggling".
He said there was a "world of difference" between the refugees to be accepted and those from the same countries who have spent more than two years in offshore detention.
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