In order to demonstrate the magnitude of this issue, and get the support required to address it, we needed to figure out what it costs. In March 2020 we met with the 180 Degrees Consulting team in Sydney to discuss how the research would be conducted, in April we finalised the questions, and over May-June we collected responses to the comprehensive survey sent out to the families in our network.

The consultants presented their findings in July, revealing that our public sector, private sector, as well as individuals and loved ones, confront an overall approximate cost of $30.9 million, $211.3 million and $14.1 million respectively.

The closest research prior to this focused solely on policing costs; we are very proud that this world-first research recognises the very real cost to those directly affected, as well as both the private and public sectors.

*Missing Persons Advocacy Network (MPAN) is the former name of The Missed Foundation.