Patron of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch is renowned for her compassion and generosity.

Dame Elisabeth is a passionate advocate for many worthy causes, supporting more than 110 charitable organisations every year.

In a June 2008 interview with Andrew Denton, Dame Elisabeth said
“I think my purpose in life was to work was to give people a better life. Over all those many, many years at the Children’s Hospital and now the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, it’s been very rewarding to see what a difference has been brought about in health, it’s been quite remarkable.”

In 2005 she was awarded Victorian of the Year, and in 2003 she was awarded the Great Australian Philanthropy Award by Research Australia, for her tireless contribution to health and research in Australia including her support for Murdoch Childrens Research Institute.

Universally admired for her decades of philanthropic work, Dame Elisabeth was a founding member of the Murdoch Institute in 1984 and has been associated with the Royal Children's Hospital for over 65 years.

Dame Elisabeth visits the Institute regularly to celebrate advances in research and to open new facilities - often sharing a smile with the children who will benefit from them.

"I am enormously proud of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. It is quite remarkable that the Institute now has close to 1000 researchers. I never did imagine that it would grow so big."