Sydney, Jul 25 (IANS): Australia Monday released a list of the most wanted criminals in the country, its first national operation to track down fugitives who flee from state to state.

The list in Operation Roam comprises murderers, fraudsters and rapists, the Daily Telegraph reported.

All states came together to produce the list that officials hope will transcend usual state barriers.

Large rewards have been put on offer for the arrest of some missing offenders.

Peter Price, director of community programme New South Wales Crime Stoppers, said: "Individual states can issue arrest warrants and wanted bulletins to police in other states. But this operation brings all the states together and through Crime Stoppers we can co-ordinate a national campaign targeting these criminals."

Crime Stoppers is a community-based programme that encourages the public to share information about people wanted by police, unsolved crimes and future crime that is being planned and suspicious or unusual activity.

Crime Stoppers has been operating for 21 years in Australia, and offers rewards for information which aids police solve all types of crimes.

Price said a similar international operation in liaison with Interpol has proven to be highly successful.

"This is the first time an operation like this has been launched in Australia. The main aim is to get the images of these criminals who are known border hoppers and ask the community to try to help catch them," he said.