The family of an Australian man missing in the Republic of Congo have questioned why it took them so long to be informed of his disappearance.
The ABC understands Mark Ciavarella, who is from the NSW Riverina town of Leeton, was last seen on October 26 in the country's capital city Brazzaville.
He had lived in the city for six years working as an English and music teacher with the American International School and most recently with the French Consular School.
Mr Ciavarella's cousin, Ross Ciavarella, who lives in Newcastle, said his family had only been told of the disappearance on Friday.
"It's been a little bit hard for us to reconcile why it took so long for the family to be notified," Ross said.
DFAT liaising with Italian embassy
"It's only really been since we were notified, we've got in contact with all the embassies and the investigation on the ground has started to gain a little bit of traction," Ross Ciavarella said.
Australia does not have an embassy in Congo, but Ross said his cousin was a dual Australian-Italian citizen and there was an Italian embassy in Brazzaville.
"DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) are liaising directly with the Italians and we now have direct communication with the Italian embassy on that and they are liaising directly with the local authorities," he said.
Students are 'his life'
Ross sai d his cousin had a strong network of friends in Australia and Brazzaville.
"The students were his life," he said.
Ross said Mark had spoken to his brother Darren the day before he went missing.
"He was in a good place, of sound mind and talk amongst the family was that he'd been talking about coming back to Australia, so we were all really relieved about that," he said.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said the department was working with the Italian Embassy in Brazzaville to provide consular assistance to the family of an Australian man reported missing in the Republic of the Congo.
"Owing to our privacy obligations, we are unable to provide further comment," the spokesperson said.
