Launch of Queensland Missing Persons Day postponed
The COVID-19 restrictions currently in place around the country have led to the regrettable postponement of the upcoming Queensland Family of Missing Persons Day.
The Australian Federal Police and Queensland Police Service are working to reschedule the event, which was set to be hosted in Brisbane on Sunday 1 August.
Queensland families who have registered for the event will be personally notified of the postponement and provided with all updates about the rescheduled event.
The Queensland event was due to be the first of a series of Family of Missing Persons Days to be held across Australia over the next six months.
Planning is underway to ensure the events can be held at a time when COVID travel restrictions allow key personnel to attend.
Families across Australia who have a missing relative are encouraged to pre-register their interest now via the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre (NMPCC) website. Once an event has been scheduled in their State or Territory, they will be notified of the details.
The program will allow families with missing loved ones to provide police and scientists with DNA samples as part of an Australian-first forensic program aiming to identify our unknown and missing Australians.
The aim of the National DNA Program is to apply a suite of existing and new forensic techniques to hundreds of unidentified human remains to assist State and Territory police in resolving cases of long-term missing persons.
This information will be used by the National DNA Program to update national databases, which will allow the effective searching and matching of unidentified human remains and missing persons cases for the first time at a national level.
A recent audit of cases stored at police, mortuary and forensic facilities confirmed there are more than 500 sets of unidentified human remains across Australia. Many of these human remains were discovered decades ago, with some cases dating back more than 50 years.
The aim of the National DNA Program is to apply a suite of existing and new forensic techniques to hundreds of unidentified human remains in an effort to assist State and Territory police to resolve cases of long-term missing persons.
For further information on the Family of Missing Persons Days and to register please visit the Missing Persons website.
Further information on the National DNA Program can be found on the Missing Persons website.
About missing persons in Australia
In Australia, a missing person is defined as anyone who is reported missing to police, whose whereabouts are unknown, and where there are fears for the safety or concern for the welfare of that person. A long-term missing person is someone who has been missing for more than three months.
About the NMPCC
The AFP's National Missing Persons Coordination Centre plays an active role in coordinating national police efforts, and educating the Australian community to prevent the incidence and impact of missing persons in Australia.
The National Missing Persons Coordination Centre is a non-operational arm of the AFP which put simply means, the team is not involved in the investigations of missing persons. All investigations are undertaken by the relevant State and Territory police.
In support of National Missing Persons Week (NMPW),the AFP NMPCC coordinates an annual police campaign with State and Territory police, highlighting a different theme each year to raise awareness and educate the Australian community on the significant issues and impacts of missing persons in Australia, while also profiling a number of long-term missing persons. A further media release will detail this year’s NMPW campaign which will run from 1 – 7 August 2021.
The annual police campaign compliments other campaigns, events, initiatives and memorial services run by families with a missing loved one, advocacy networks, government and non-government organisations, and members of the public.
Media enquiries
AFP Media: (02) 5126 9297
