Tuesday, 12 May 2026

 Moira DEEMING (Western Metropolitan) (14:16): I rise to give my condolences on the passing of Dr Anastasia ‘Ana’ Kalantzis, who recently lost her battle against mental health struggles. Dr Kalantzis was a passionate dentist, educator and advocate for mental health. She was a lecturer at the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne and in dentistry at the University of Melbourne, but she spent the last eight months in and out of public and private mental health facilities across Melbourne, which were sadly ill equipped to help her recover from her struggles.

In light of such a tragedy, Ana’s family are organising a scholarship in her honour at La Trobe University, and her legacy will continue raising awareness for a compassionate care approach to mental health, strengthening advocacy for mental health patients as well as listening better to their caregivers and their close family members, which will contribute to a more responsive support and service model for mental health in Victoria.