Bindi Irwin will be able to deal with the death of her famous father more so than her younger brother Bob, says Lorna Luft, who was a teenager when she lost her mother Judy Garland.

Luft, whose father was Garland's third husband Sid Luft, was just 16 when her screen legend mother died of an overdose in London in 1969. She has lived her life in her mother's shadow and says she knows what the Irwin children will go through.

"I think Bindi Irwin has an amazing legacy," Luft said.

"She will grow up and everybody will ask her the same questions when they interview her as they ask me - about legacies and shadows.

"I think Bindi Irwin will be fine because her mother seems incredibly grounded and she knew what her dad was about."

But Luft said Bob, who was not yet three when his father was killed by a stingray barb to the heart in 2006, would struggle more with the loss as he grows up.

"The one person that I'm sure will feel more of a loss is (Bindi's) brother, because he was so little," she said.

"So he has really nothing to go on except for a lot of the footage, and that's how he will get to know his dad.

"I think he's going to have a tough time."

In Australia for a series of performances showcasing her album Songs My Mother Taught Me, Luft thanks the late Crocodile Hunter for her fascination with this country.

"It's an amazing, amazing country," she said.

"We grew up, in a way, for the last couple of years watching Steve Irwin.

"Steve Irwin was the greatest ambassador this country has had, for the preservation of what Australia's about and its wildlife.

"I want to see Australia now."

Luft has just kicked off her Australian tour with two shows in Melbourne.

Over the next six weeks she will perform in Alice Springs, Port Douglas, Canberra, Sydney, Caloundra, the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Adelaide and Newcastle.

In her show, Luft sings many of her mother's signature songs, including Come Rain or Come Shine, The Man That Got Away, and Rock-A-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody.

She said at 55, she feels ready to deal with her heritage.

"I don't think you get to know your parents until you're in your 40s," she said.

"You're making your own way in your 20s, in your 30s you're having your kids, and in your 40s you're able to look back and say to yourself, what am I going to tell my children? What's their legacy?"

While in Sydney, Luft is looking forward to catching up with Aussie actor Judy Davis, who played Garland in a television mini-series based on Luft's book, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.

She is also considering spending a little more time Down Under in the future.

"Australia's a cool place," she said.

"Don't think we haven't thought about taking a little trip to the real estate agents