Australian Federal Police

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) commenced national television and outdoor advertising this week as part of an awareness campaign to uncover crucial community information that could help locate family members and loved ones who have gone missing.

The campaign includes a 30 second television commercial and advertisements on 575 buses across Australia, developed to increase the awareness of issues associated with the missing person's phenomenon.

The buses and community service announcement will be supported by advertising on Foxtel and Channel Nine who both currently profile missing person's cases through the Crime and Investigation Network, Without a Trace and Missing Persons Unit.

This year, National Missing Persons Week runs from Sunday 5 August to Saturday 11 August with the theme: How do you find someone when they struggle to find themselves. The theme emphasises the established link between a large percentage missing persons and mental health issues.

AFP National Missing Persons Coordination Centre Coordinator Leonie Jacques outlined the importance of raising community awareness in the fight to find people who have gone missing.

"Over 30,000 people in Australia are reported missing to police each year - that's one every 18 minutes." She said.

"A high percentage of missing persons suffer from, or have a history of, mental illness so this year's campaign aims to not only assist in the resolution of missing persons cases, but to increase awareness of how mental illness can play a role in people going missing".

The national advertising campaign is part of Federal Government funding of $3.9 million for the AFP National Missing Persons Coordination Centre to coordinate and promote a national integrated approach to reduce the incidence and impact of missing persons.

The national advertising campaign asks Australians to please help by contacting the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre on 1800 000 634 or by visiting www.afp.gov.au/national/missing.