As a Fairfax family funded venture is launched at the National Museum of Australia, it has been announced that Rupert Murdoch’s sister, Anne Kantor has died aged 86.

Her “significant” philanthropic efforts included support for arts, education and social justice organisations. She was a long-time supporter of the Australia Institute think tank, and with her late husband Milan Kantor, long-standing supporters of the Melbourne Recital Centre, Musica Viva and Short Black Opera.

In Canberra, a children’s educational play space is one of two galleries at the National Museum of Australia, where a $34 million revamp that reimagines more than a third of the building, includes the Tim and Gina Fairfax Discovery Centre, a “fun, immersive play space designed and curated for children aged 0–6, their families and carers”.

It was opened by federal arts minister Tony Burke, while Museum director Mathew Trinca thanked Tim and Gina Fairfax. The Discovery Centre invites children to explore Australia’s iconic animals and stories, including kangaroos and bunyips, an early explorer’s cat, and social media star ‘Chris the Sheep’.

The Fairfaxes, who are leading Australian philanthropists, supported the development of the new play and education space, “designed to engage children with Australian stories and the work of the Museum”.