How we were founded

THEY FAILED OUR BROTHER. WE WONT FAIL OUR PEOPLE.

The Disappeared Project was born when systemic failures became impossible to ignore.

In May 2024, 25-year-old Aboriginal man Jai Gray disappeared from his home in Morayfield, Queensland. Jai was a vulnerable young man, described by his family as someone who would do anything for his friends—an incredibly loyal person with a smile always on his face despite the challenges he faced in life. When Jai's family reported him missing, they encountered what many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families face: minimal urgency, bureaucratic obstacles, and limited resources.

Jai's sister Ginny and family refused to let her brother become another statistic. She reached out to Kevin Yow Yeh, who validated her family's concerns when others dismissed them. Kevin immediately mobilised, connecting Ginny with Amy McQuire and Martin Hodgson, activating a network of First Nations advocates.

Though Kevin, Amy, and Martin each had experience with cases involving disappeared First Nations people, Jai's case was the first time they faced it unfolding in real time. Together with Jai's family, they implemented coordinated advocacy: pushing police for proper investigation, managing media engagement, conducting community-led searches, and maintaining constant pressure on authorities.

This First Nations-led advocacy resulted in arrests within two weeks—a stark contrast to the prolonged or permanently unresolved cases of countless other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This experience revealed both the depth of systemic failure and the powerful potential of coordinated, culturally informed advocacy.

In the aftermath, Ginny, Kevin, Amy, and Martin recognised that the knowledge, networks, and strategies that helped Jai's family could and should be available to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families facing similar crises. 

The Disappeared Project emerged from this realisation—a commitment to ensure that no First Nations family would have to navigate these systems alone.

SYSTEMIC FAILURE, SYSTEMIC SILENCE

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people disappear at three times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians. This isn't an accident. It's the predictable outcome of systems built on colonisation, maintained by racism, and enabled by silence.

When a First Nations person disappears, the response is often inadequate, delayed, or non-existent:

• Police dismiss family concerns or respond with dangerous assumptions and stereotypes
• Media either ignores the case entirely or reduces our people to mugshots and harmful narratives
• Families are left to navigate hostile bureaucracies without guidance or support
• First Nations knowledge, cultural protocols, and community-led search efforts are disregarded
• Institutional racism means cases involving First Nations people receive less urgency, fewer resources, and minimal follow-through

This isn't just systemic failure—it's systemic indifference. The same institutions that should protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the ones that fail us most catastrophically.

The impact is devastating and generational. Each disappearance compounds historical trauma, deepens community grief, and reinforces the message that Aboriginal lives don't matter as much. Families search alone for years, sometimes decades, carrying unbearable weight whilst the systems responsible offer excuses instead of action.

No comprehensive data exists on how many First Nations people have disappeared. The crisis remains invisible because those in power have chosen not to count, not to care, and not to act.

We exist because this cannot continue.

LANGUAGE MATTERS

Words shape how we understand reality. The language used to describe First Nations people who vanish reflects—and reinforces—systemic failures and harmful assumptions.

"Missing" suggests someone has simply wandered off or chosen to leave. It implies passivity, as though the person is responsible for their own absence. This language allows authorities to downplay urgency and dismiss family concerns with harmful stereotypes like "they've probably just gone walkabout."

"Disappeared" acknowledges that something has happened to someone. It centres the reality that these are people who have been taken from their families and communities—whether through violence, systems failure, or circumstances beyond their control.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, disappearance is not random. It is connected to ongoing impacts of colonisation, systemic racism in institutions, violence that disproportionately targets our communities, inadequate responses when Aboriginal people need help, and historical and continuing failure of duty of care.

When we say "disappeared," we refuse to let systems off the hook. 

We demand acknowledgment that Aboriginal people are vanishing at alarming rates, that this is a crisis requiring urgent response, and that families deserve answers, support, and justice.

WHAT WE'RE BUILDING 

We envision an Australia where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who disappear receive immediate, culturally appropriate responses. Where families are supported rather than abandoned, communities are empowered to mobilise effectively, and every disappeared Aboriginal person is remembered with dignity and sought with urgency.

We're building toward:

• Comprehensive support for Aboriginal families when a loved one disappears—including resources, advocacy, and cultural guidance
• Australia's first First Nations-led database documenting disappeared First Nations people, making visible a crisis that has been ignored
• Transformed media representation ensuring dignity and cultural respect in all coverage
• Systemic reform through evidence-based advocacy for improved protocols, cultural competency, and accountability
• Community capacity building so Aboriginal communities can respond effectively when someone disappears
• Prevention strategies that address root causes making Aboriginal people vulnerable

This vision guides every aspect of our work—from the resources we're developing now to the long-term systemic change we're building toward. We know this transformation won't happen overnight, but with sustained support and commitment, we can create the change our communities desperately need.

THE TIME FOR SILENCE IS OVER. THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW.

The Disappeared Project is at the beginning of this journey. We're building from the ground up with passion, expertise, and community support. We need funding to establish the infrastructure, develop resources, and create the support systems that Aboriginal families desperately need.

Behind each case is a brother, sister, child, parent, aunt, uncle, or grandparent who is desperately missed. Behind each statistic is a community bearing the weight of loss and uncertainty.

Your involvement—whether through financial contribution, sharing your skills, amplifying our message, or standing with us as we demand change—helps us ensure that when an Aboriginal person disappears, they are not forgotten, their families are not abandoned, and their communities have pathways to truth and healing.

This vision guides every aspect of our work—from the resources we're developing now to the long-term systemic change we're building toward. We know this transformation won't happen overnight, but with sustained support and commitment, we can create the change our communities desperately need.