Communication the key to connect missing persons

Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty will today launch National Missing Persons Week in Canberra with the message that communication is the key to preventing our youth from going missing.

National Missing Persons Week 2008 runs from Sunday 3 to Saturday 9 August and will focus on young people as a significant group at risk of going missing. The theme this year is When communication goes missing, so do our youth. Don’t close the door to communication.

Commissioner Keelty said the latest research revealed that young people aged under 18 years accounted for more than two-thirds of all missing persons reports.

“About 20,000 people under the age of 18 are reported missing each year and research indicates they are predominantly female and aged between 13 and 17 years,” he said.

“This year's campaign aims to focus on this group, as well as to increase awareness of the triggers, such as communication, that play a role in why young people go missing," Commissioner Keelty said.

The Commissioner said the AFP’s National Missing Persons Coordination Centre (NMPCC) had specifically targeted young people during 2008 through focused activities.

“Social networking sites have also been targeted through the development of a missing persons MySpace profile and with videos being uploaded on YouTube extending the reach of the campaign to an international audience. And for the first time, this year’s advertising campaign went online at various youth-focused websites.”

The AFP MySpace profile, www.myspace.com/missingpersons, which went live on International Missing Children’s Day on May 25, is part of the global campaign to locate missing children.

Rebekah Horne, MySpace.com Vice President said that 115 million MySpace users from around the world would be an effective community, working like a neighbourhood watch team to help find missing people and reconnect families and loved ones.

MySpace users simply need to go to the MySpace site to view missing person profiles, as well as distribute the information to their online friends.

Online banners advertisements have also appeared on MySpace as well as other social networking sites including Facebook, bebo, ninemsn Messenger and Hotmail in an effort to use mediums young people identify with.

The NMPCC website has undergone a significant redevelopment to further increase awareness and engage young people. The website, www.missingpersons.gov.au, went live on the eve of National Missing Persons Week.

Commissioner Keelty said the NMPCC had also forged a relationship with Reconnect, aDepartment of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) community-based early intervention service that helps reconcile young people with their families.

As a result of this initiative, information about missing persons will be distributed through Reconnect’s program operating from 120 FaHCSIA offices across the country.

Commissioner Keelty said approximately 35,000 people in Australia are reported missing each year – one every 15 minutes.

A missing person is anyone who is reported missing to police, whose whereabouts are unknown, and where there are fears for the safety or welfare of that person.

More than 95 per cent of people reported missing in Australia are located within a short period of time, but some 1600 people still remain missing more than six months after they disappeared.

If you think you have information on a missing person, or are interested in learning more about missing persons and the agencies which help them, visit www.missingpersons.gov.au or free call 1800 000 634.