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, a Department
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.
Media enquiries
AFP
National Media Team
Phone: (02) 6275 7100
Darain Faraz
MySpace.com
Phone: (02) 9288 7286
