CANBERRA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government on Thursday released thousands of age-progressed images of children who have been reported missing in a fresh push to help authorities and the public recognize missing persons.
The announcement comes on International Missing Children's Day, and the nation's Justice Minister Michael Keenan said while Australia was not a child abduction "hotspot," more than half of all missing persons reports involved children 18 years or younger.
"We are stepping up our search efforts to help find thousands of missing Australian children," Keenan said in a statement. "An estimated 38,000 people are reported missing in Australia every year. Sadly, more than 20,000 are under the age of 18."
"While Australia has one of the lowest rates of abduction in the Western world, we must not take this for granted."
"The Australian government and our law enforcement agencies are always looking for new ways to find missing children."
Keenan said the age-progressed photographs would give authorities and everyday Australians a snapshot of what a missing child might look like years after they were first reported missing.
