Missing Persons Australia, or People You Just Can't Find?

Missing persons in Australia are family members, loved ones, and friends. They are co-workers, neighbours or other familiar individuals that disappear from daily life without a trace. Their disappearance is out of character, their whereabouts are unknown and those close to them fear for their safety and well-being.

Regardless of whether someone goes missing intentionally or disappears under suspicious circumstances, missing persons Australia wide should be reported to police. Being reported as a missing person is not a crime. The only concern of police investigators is establishing the safety and well-being of the missing person.

An individual that cannot be located is not necessarily a missing person. What distinguishes the two is the concern you have for the person's safety and welfare.

If someone is missing and you fear for their well-being or safety:

DO immediately notify local police in the person's neighborhood or last known location
DO work with representatives of the Federal Police's Australian Missing Persons Unit and the State Police's Missing Persons Unit
DO keep a written record of your efforts to locate the missing person
DO contact appropriate tracing agencies such as the Salvation Army Family Tracing Service or the Australian Red Cross
DO inform friends, relatives, co-workers and neighbors of the individual's disappearance
DO contact the Families & Friends of Missing Persons Unit Counselling Service for support
DO notify police immediately if your missing person returns

If you are trying to find and reunite with friends, relatives or loved ones you've lost contact with recently or some time ago, do not report them as missing persons in Australia.

Instead contact a professionalAustralian people finder to find people missing due to relocations, change of employment, adoption or other explicable separations.