Abstract
Between 2008 and 2015 over 305,000 people were reported missing in Australia, an average of 38,159 reports each year. Youths aged 13–17 years were most likely to go missing; half of all people reported missing between 2008 and 2015 were in this age group and less than 10 percent were children. More than sixty percent of those who go missing return or are found within 48 hours. Ninety-eight percent are ultimately located, most alive. Collecting data on the circumstances of those who go missing will assist in developing a national picture of vulnerable population groups and predicting outcomes for these groups.