Facebook's AMBER Alerts system launches in Australia

Facebook's AMBER Alerts are now available in Australia as part of a partnership with the country's state and federal police, and Australians will now be notified of missing children on top of their News Feeds.

While the instance of abducted children in Australia is low, according to the Australian Federal Police, the system's availability will issue a 24-hour alert to users on Facebook who are in the area of where the child went missing.

"We know that when a child is missing, the most valuable thing we can do is get information out to the public as quickly as possible," according to Facebook's Director of Trust and Safety, Emily Vacher, in an online statement.

"By getting the right information to the right people, at the right time, through AMBER Alerts on Facebook, we hope to help reunite missing children with their families faster."

Australia is the 13th country to have Facebook's AMBER Alerts. It launched nationally in the U.S. in January 2015, with the social media giant working in conjunction with the country's National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to bring it to life.

Since then, it's been made available in Canada, the UK, Greece, Malaysia and Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Malta, and Jamaica.

Originating in the U.S., AMBER stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. The early warning child abduction system was created in the legacy of Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old abducted and killed in Arlington, Texas in 1996.

In Australia, AMBER Alerts have been in place in Queensland since 2015. Other states and territories will now use the system, creating a national platform.

In New South Wales for instance, AMBER Alerts will replace 'child abduction' or 'concern for child' alerts issued by police, while adding Facebook as a broadcasting channel. AMBER Alerts will only be deployed when a child is at serious risk of harm and/or death.

"Police rely on information from the community and the AMBER Alert system ensures more people across a location are notified and able to be alert to anything that could assist police," NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said in a statement online.

"While the system streamlines protocols already in place, it is solely used in cases of an abducted child, however the element of abduction may not alone be enough to warrant an AMBER Alert."