This week's terror attack in Manchester highlights the need for Australia to absorb the lessons that have emerged from the coronial inquest into the December 2014 Lindt Cafe siege.
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Both are examples of how troubled individuals, motivated by hateful ideologies, can shatter lives and leave whole communities scarred and traumatised.
In both instances although the perpetrators were already "on the radar" with the authorities insufficient action was taken to prevent the attacks from taking place.
This has played to the very human desire to have someone to blame when tragedy strikes.
There have already been many articles, op-ed pieces and television programs in which the police and the judiciary were portrayed as almost as culpable in the tragic events that unfolded in Sydney in 2014 as Man Horan Monis.
Similar claims are now being made about Manchester.
One argument is that if the authorities had "done their job" and locked Man Monis and Salman Abedi up "when they had the chance" neither the Lindt siege or the concert bombing would not have happened.
The reality, in both instances, is more complex. Police and the courts must observe the rule of law when dealing with those they suspect of criminal intent. Any failure to do this would draw vocal criticism from the same people who are now saying they did not go far enough.
While the person who released Monis on bail has doubtless second guessed their decision many times, it was based on their understanding of the law and the circumstances at that point.
What needs to be remembered, and NSW Coroner Michael Barnes, made this point strongly on Wednesday, is only one person was responsible for the deaths of Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson.
"All of the blame for those (deaths) rests on the shoulders of Man Monis," Mr Barnes said. "He created the intensely dangerous situation. He maliciously executed Tori Johnson. He barricaded himself into a corner of the cafe in circumstances where the risk of hostages being wounded or killed was very high."
Man Monis's attack was the first major terrorist incident to occur in Australia in many years and as it unfolded there is no doubt NSW Police were caught on the back foot. Issues included placing too much emphasis on the advice of a police psychiatrist that underplayed the risk of Monis killing hostages, confusion over whether or not police snipers could use deadly force and the appropriateness of the "contain and negotiate" approach.
It is easy after events such as these for self-appointed armchair generals, who have the luxury of knowing they will never have to bear such responsibility themselves, to second guess those who turned out.
The right response to the Lindt siege and the Manchester attack is to learn from the mistakes that were made and move on; not to become preoccupied with apportioning blame to well-intentioned individuals who were trying to defuse situations over which they had very limited control.
