Early this month, we were shocked by the deaths of toddler twins in Brisbane who apparently starved to death without intervention.

In that case, neighbours told the media other children from the house used to visit and ask for food.

This week, in Adelaide, five children were hospitalised and others were removed from the squalor of their home suffering malnutrition.

It has since emerged that the family was known to authorities in Victoria, but had been able to move to South Australia without follow up from child protection workers.

So who is to blame in either case? The easy answer, and one not entirely incorrect, is the parents. In both these cases the courts will determine the level of parental culpability.

But that answer puts responsibility on people who are clearly not equipped to cope with the demands of parenthood - people who will always exist in our society.

The responsibility, therefore, for ensuring at-risk children are protected falls to the rest of us.

These recent events have highlight flaws in the existing system.

Let us not absolve these parents from their responsibilities, but at the same time, let us examine the wider community's roles - from the government down - in caring for children who have the misfortune to be born into such circumstance.

Funeral a reminder of struggle for so many

IT WAS hard not to be moved by images of Jane McGrath's funeral yesterday.

Mrs McGrath, wife of test cricketer Glenn, was an inspiration to many women and their families across the nation who have been touched by breast cancer.

Her family will no doubt take great comfort in the fact that she was able to do so much for cancer patients while she was alive.

It is a tragedy when someone with a profile such as Mrs McGrath's succumbs to illness. Her sad passing serves as a reminder, though, that in homes across Australia, there are people with less of a profile on exactly the same journey.

Let's hope that what Mrs McGrath was able to achieve through her work gives them hope for for the future.