The institute was established in 1986 by Professor David Danks, after media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his family donated A$5 million to the Birth Defects Research Institute at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne in 1984. The institute was later renamed the Murdoch Institute for Research into Birth Defects, and Rupert's mother, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch became its patron.[1]
In 2000, the Murdoch Institute merged with the medical research institute of the Royal Children's Hospital to become the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.[2]