Australia's annual campaign highlighting the plight of missing persons says along with those living with a mental illness and young people, older people with dementia or memory loss are at high risk of going missing.
People with dementia are the focus of National Missing Persons Week 2014, with an awareness campaign seeking to inform people about the risk factors associated with dementia.
The CEO of Alzheimers Australia in NSW, John Watkins says it's estimated 320,000 Australians have been diagnosed with dementia with that figure set to rise in the next 15 years to around 500,000.
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John Watkins speaks with SBS reporter Peggy Giakoumelos
"A lot more older people with dementia will be living in the community with dementia, that's wonderful because that's where they deserve to be," he said.
"But with that comes some issues and one of those issues will be older people with dementia going missing, so we need to prepare for that."
John Watkins says the symptoms of dementia that may cause someone to go missing include forgetting well-known people or places, an inability to process questions or instructions, and emotional unpredictability.
He adds there is a lot that carers can do to ensure those they care stay safe. Alzheimers Australia has what John Watkins describes as a low tech but effective method for ensuring a person's safety.
"It's a metal bracelet that someone can register with. Those details are then registered with the missing persons unit.'
The database contains information about a person's past as well as their present life, including where they once lived, habits, hobbies and other relevant information.
The Australian Federal Police says on average 35,000 people a year are reported missing across Australia with more than 99 per cent are found.
