Laura Deaker said since she moved to the seaside settlement about three years ago, the blocks of unmarked burial plots at Waitati Cemetery had bothered her.
"I think it’s sad.
"These people were just treated with very little dignity in life and then it’s the same in death."
She is among a handful of community members in support of establishing a plaque or other form of memorial at the cemetery.
The government announced in February the establishment of a $2 million fund available for local authorities to memorialise unmarked graves associated with psychiatric and psychopaedic sites.
Up to $50,000 of funding is available per application.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found at least 4000 unmarked graves around the country, including in Otago, and records held by the Dunedin City Council show 155 unmarked plots at the Waitati Cemetery.
Dunedin was once home to several mental health institutions, including Seacliff Lunatic Asylum, the Dunedin Lunatic Asylum and Cherry Farm Psychiatric Hospital.
Ms Deaker said she was hopeful funding could be allocated to the memorialisation of the cemetery’s unmarked graves.
"I feel like this is the closest we’ve got so far ... I feel like it could happen."
She estimated the number of unmarked graves could be higher than shown by the council’s records.
While she believed most people in Waitati knew about "the horrors of Seacliff and Cherry Farm", she did not think many knew the amount of those who died in care who were buried in the cemetery with no marker.
A lot of residents could have family members who were admitted there and not even know it, she said.
"Everyone buried there is someone’s son or someone’s daughter, it’s someone’s ancestor.
"It’s just about respect, I guess, instead of just being discarded ...
"If you’re treated with such little dignity in life, in death there should be at least your name, at least a marker, or at least something to know that there’s someone there."
People should be made aware of the "atrocities" that happened at such institutions, and she believed everyone in Waitati would get behind a memorial, Ms Deaker said.
Council parks and recreation group manager Heath Ellis confirmed it had "registered its interest" in the fund.
"Any funding from the Survivor Support and Recognition Fund would be used to research unmarked graves in Dunedin, and could potentially also be used for memorials to those who died in care."
