Welcome to the October e-News bulletin. The past months have been a busy time for the team, with the launch of two important resources, conference presentations, inservices and community education sessions in a variety of locations.

During National Missing Persons Week (NMPW) 2013, the Families and Friends Quilt and “In the Loop: Young people talking about living with missing and not knowing” were both launched.

FFMPU eNews October 2013

Attorney General Greg Smith MP

Attorney General Greg Smith MP with the young people & FFMPU team

Young people talking about MissingWords and artwork from young people who live with ‘missing’ and ‘not knowing’

Families and Friends of Missing Persons Unit, NSW Department of Attorney General & Justice

The Premier, The Hon Barry O’Farrell MP

Family Forum 2013The Families and Friends Quilt was launched at NSW Police Headquarters at the start of NMPW by Ms Mandy Young, the Commissioner for Victims Rights. The launch was also attended by the Premier, the Hon. Barry O’Farrell, MP.

“In the Loop” was launched at Parliament House by the Hon Greg Smith SC MP, Attorney General. All of the young people who worked with FFMPU and their family members were present.

There have been many opportunities to meet with families and friends in recent months – often face to face at events such as the NSW Police Headquarters event to mark the start of NMPW and the two launches. Group meetings in Corrimal, Sydney and more recently Campbelltown have also provided the opportunity for families and friends to connect with others. The FFMPU team has continued to meet with one or more family members face to face, via email, phone and Skype.

FFMPU has very recently established a facebook presence, providing another opportunity for families and friends to connect, reach out and share a little (or a bit more) about the experience of living with missing. The team at FFMPU continues to work to offer services that are accessible, safe and respectful of people’s individual needs and privacy, whilst allowing them to connect and share information too.

We recognise that everyone’s situation and needs may differ; not everyone wants individual counselling, to attend a group or access facebook. We will continue to email, mail, call and Skype. Family members speak at community events about their experience to raise awareness and to improve the response to those who are impacted by ‘missing’.

Others use the media, write, draw, paint and lobby to share their individual stories and messages about missing with the wider community.

Whilst the ‘quilters’ are a visible and much-appreciated group at the moment, we recognize that not everyone chooses to quilt, sometimes choosing other ways of travelling with missing.

The article that follows was written by a family member, Norm Stanton, who is also the valued family representative on the FFMPU Interagency Forum. Thank you Norm.

THIS (TATTOOED) LIFE (as submitted to the ‘This Life’ column in the Weekend Australian)

Do you remember when the only people who noticeably sported tattoos, in our society at least, were Popeye and other sea-faring types?

I suspect many bikie gang members also had something emblazoned on their limbs or torso but who was going to get close enough to check it out?

Today however it’s a different story. Although tattoos have been around for centuries they have undergone a resurgence in recent times. Now tattoos are ubiquitous across all walks of life, not just footballers and musicians and servicemen are inked but also school students and dancers and swimmers.

I’m sure these days when a rugby league player is signed by a club the coach is not just interested in the player’s stats but also the quality of his tats.

Well I decided this month to join them – despite being closer to 70 than 60! OK so it’s not a Maori motif or a string of barbed wire or a Southern Cross but it’s something that’s meaningful to me and I think that’s partly what it’s about for most of those who are adorned by body art.

I must say my dear wife had some misgivings. When I mentioned the idea I think she envisaged a set of numbers on my forearm which may have been mistaken for concentration camp identification or perhaps a permanent reminder of my mobile telephone number which I often seem to forget.

To explain why I joined the ranks of the tattooed, I have to take you back 10 years to when our son Ian became a missing person. He just walked out of his flat in Bundanoon in the NSW Southern Highlands, leaving behind, keys, wallet, clothes and all personal possessions.

It was an agonising time for our family, trying our best to trace his whereabouts, working with police and other agencies, searching the broad, rugged expanse of nearby Morton National Park, visiting refuges and shelters, putting up posters and trying to maintain our well-being.

We found out that Ian was one of around 30,000 people who are reported as missing across Australia each year and that each incident affects on average 12 people, all of whom respond in unique ways.

As the weeks morphed into months and then years his four siblings and parents went through the rollercoaster ride of emotions, from guilt, anxiety, anger, despair, and overriding all, the sense of loss.

The coroner’s inquest in 2007 was an especially difficult time. To receive the pronouncement that your son is deceased is devastating when you still hold out hope that he has just gone off somewhere and might return, even though one suspects the worst.

On one occasion, a few years after Ian went missing; I was walking through the bush in the grounds of a Buddhist Monastery near Bundanoon, a place which Ian had visited. Along the track I had a sudden sense of him speaking to me saying, “I’m still with you, Dad”. My response was to collapse onto a log and sob my heart out.

The words have stayed with me ever since as a kind of mantra and I wanted to keep them with me in another way than just in my head. A tattoo of the words seemed a logical way to do that, although it’s taken me a year since his 32nd birthday to actually get it done! Now our son is not just in my head and heart but his presence is inscribed on my body.

So if you see a very tall young man, himself sporting a tattoo – a bomb on his left hand between thumb and forefinger – please ask him to get in touch with his family and tell him how much they love him ... enough for his Dad to get himself a tattoo!

Staffing

Catherine ValenzuelaCathie’s position has been extended until March 2014. In the coming months she will continue with the planning, evaluation and delivery of the group work program. Cathie has co-facilitated groups in Campbelltown, Corrimal and Sydney since she started with FFMPU.

At our most recent group Cathie facilitated a Mindfulness Exercise with those present. Participants provided feedback about the positive experience of ‘quieting’ their thoughts and ‘being in the moment’, without having to consider the many pressures that often accompany day-to-day living; and some requested that a small amount of time be set aside in each group to be ‘mindful’.

StudentsYumi Oh and Eric Leow are 4th year Bachelor of Social Work students from the University of New South Wales. Yumi and Eric commenced their 75-day placements with FFMPU in July and will be with FFMPU until mid November. Liz Davies is their field placement supervisor. Eric and Yumi are working on a companion book to accompany the Families and Friends Quilt. The companion book tells the story of each quilt square from the family’s perspective. The story explains the meaning of each square and the significance of the words and images the quilters have used.

Yumi and Eric are also working on individual projects. Yumi is working on a project that looks at the contact young people have with FFMPU and the reasons they come into contact with the unit. This research will contribute to our understanding of the needs of children and young people who are living with missing. Eric is undertaking research to better understand what family members and friends identify is happening in the life of the missing person and their family prior to them going missing.

Research & ConferencesStephanie Dartnall presented at the 14th International Mental Health Conference from 5th to 7th August 2013. The conference was well attended with a range of mental health, medical and health professionals from across Australia and international locations. Stephanie presented on “Ambiguous loss, therapeutic responses, and resilience: Supporting families of missing persons”. Her talk focused on raising awareness about the impact of missing on families of missing persons, the work of the unit, and how service providers can best support families when a loved one goes missing. The ‘quilt for missing people” was on display throughout the conference and was a particular talking point for a number of mental health professionals in attendance. Some requested photos of the quilt to take and share with their own team, others were surprised to learn about the prevalence and impact of missing in our community, and others reflected on the powerful emotional impact of the quilt and what it represented.

Liz Davies presented at the National Victims of Crime Conference held on 26 and 27 September, 2013. Liz’s presentation – “Working with families and friends of missing people: ambiguous loss and victims of crime” focused on the part of the missing persons population who are believed to be missing as a result of foul play and the work of FFMPU with families where there is a suspicion of homicide in the ongoing police investigation. The presentation was attended by victim support groups, workers and police from across Australia.

Eric Leow & Yumi Oh

Stephanie with the quilt at the conference

© State of New South Wales through Families and Friends of Missing Persons Unit, Department of Attorney General and Justice, October 2013. This work may be freely reproduced for personal, educational and government purposes. Permission must be received from the Department for all other uses.

Alternative formats of this information are available.

This document has been prepared by Families and Friends of Missing Persons Unit for general information purposes. Design by Jonathan Nichol. (FMP • 10/2013)

www.missingpersons.lawlink.nsw.gov.au

CONTACT DETAILSFor further information about this material or other topics, please call us on: Phone: (02) 8688 8173 or 1800 227 772 • National Relay Service: 1800 555 677 Fax: (02) 8688 9631 • Email: ffmpu@agd.nsw.gov.au • Facebook: www.facebook.com/missing.persons.501

Research Projects UpdateLiz Davies continues with her research study -“Identifying and responding to the psychosocial support needs of children and young people when a loved one is missing”. Liz is being supervised by two staff from UWS in this research and can be contacted at liz_davies@agd.nsw.gov.au

Stephanie Dartnall has commenced research of the Coronial investigation of suspected deaths and the impact on families of missing people. For updates and further information on Stephanie’s research she can be contacted at stephanie_dartnall@agd.nsw.gov.au

Community Education and MeetingsSince the last e-newsletter, the FFMPU team has presented training at a number of Police Local Area Commands, Probationary and Area Training Days and the Police College in Goulburn. We have also presented at a number of mental health facilities and workplace training days.

New publications

When someone is missing: Making a police report and assisting the investigationThis fact sheet provides information to assist those making a missing persons report.

Family Support Groups

Group evaluation 2013The FFMPU Families and Friends groups have been running for over three years and have evolved during this time. We are in the process of conducting an evaluation of the group work program, seeking feedback from families and friends who have attended the meetings. Through this process, FFMPU hopes that the groups continue to meet the changing needs of those who attend, improve how the groups are run, cover topics of interest and plan for future groups.

The evaluation forms were sent out in mid-August. Thank you to all who’ve returned them and for those who haven’t there is still time to do so. Your feedback is valuable and very much appreciated. A summary of the information gathered will be published on the FFMPU website later in 2013. If you have any questions about the evaluation, please do not hesitate to contact Cathie or Liz on 1800 227 772.

FFMPUGroup

Meetings

When someone is missing:

Making a police report and

assisting the investigation

KEY FACTS ABOUT

POLICE MISSING PERSONS’ REPORTS

� The NSW Police definition of a missing person is:

“Anyone who is reported missing to police, whose

whereabouts are unknown, and there are fears for

the safety or concern for the welfare of that person.”

� You do not have to wait 24 hours to report

someone missing. You can lodge a report as soon

as you have concerns for their safety.

� You can make a missing person’s report at your

local police station, regardless of where the person

went missing.

� You do not have to be a family member to report a

person missing to police.

� People of any age can be reported missing.

� A person can be reported missing more than once.

� It is not a crime to go missing.

� Police cannot search for family members in

circumstances where there are no real concerns for

their safety, such as families searching for someone

for debt collection.

� Police will respect the privacy of the missing

person. If a missing adult is located safe and well,

police cannot reveal their whereabouts without

their permission. In some cases, police may only

be permitted to provide information that the

person has been located safe and well.

� You can report the sighting of a missing person to

Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or any local police

station.

HOW TO LODGE A

POLICE MISSING PERSON’S REPORT

If you have concerns for the safety of a person whose

whereabouts are unknown, and all usual methods of

contact do not locate them, you can lodge a missing

person’s report in person at your local police station.

Reports cannot be accepted via email or over the phone.

Contact your local police station to discuss your needs

if you are unable to attend the police station to lodge a

report.

WHAT INFORMATION TO PROVIDE POLICE

When you attend a police station to report someone

missing, it will help police if you bring along the following

information about the missing person (if possible):

� A recent photograph of the missing person.

� A detailed description of the missing person’s

appearance including height, build, hair (length,

style, colour), eye colour, complexion, racial

appearance, and any distinguishing features (for

example, tattoos, birth marks, facial hair/features,

scars, favourite jewellery, glasses).

� The person’s full name including any aliases or

nicknames they may use.

� Date and place of birth.

� Any factors that give you concern for their current

wellbeing.

� Address, phone numbers, email accounts, social

network accounts (for example, Facebook page).

� Names and contact details of friends, associates,

employer, work colleagues and school (if young

person).

� Contact details of the missing person’s doctor,

dentist, therapist and any other health practitioner.

� Any medical requirements or medications needed.

� Any likely destinations, for example favourite places,

work/study locations or places with past connections.

� Bank, credit card or other financial accounts.

� Centrelink benefits or other benefits they may have

been receiving.

� Car registration number, make, model or any other

transport the person may be using, such as a

motorbike or bicycle.

� Licence and passport details.

� Description of the time and place they were last

seen, clothes last seen wearing, people they were

last sighted with, where they were heading.

� Description of previous missing episodes, the

circumstances and where they were found.

� Any behavioural changes, personal, medical or

emotional problems they may have experienced

before they went missing.

� Any information gained that may be relevant no

matter how long after lodging the original report.