Lucy is the ABC's national regional affairs reporter at Parliament House and files to various programs including Landline. Her reporting takes her off the beaten track to cover issues affecting people in country Australia. She's covered federal politics for television, radio and online from Canberra, and worked for the flagship radio current affairs programs AM, The World Today and PM. She also worked as the political producer for 7.30. Lucy began her career as a rural reporter in the towns of Shepparton, Horsham and Mildura. She is president of the National Rural Press Club. Follow her on Twitter @lucybarbour
The New South Wales Health Secretary offers an apology to women who have been affected by recent abortion bans, adding that she has written to hospital executives across the state reminding them of their responsibilities.
Two new clinics providing abortion services are set to be established in Queanbeyan and NSW's south coast. It comes after an ABC investigation exposed that Queanbeyan Hospital had ceased providing surgical terminations.
An email obtained by the ABC confirms Queanbeyan Hospital has stopped providing surgical terminations for fetal anomalies and medical reasons, restricting access to a legal and time-critical form of reproductive health care.
A public hospital in regional New South Wales is restoring abortion services after an ABC investigation revealed the executive had banned staff from providing terminations to patients for non-medical reasons.
Leaked documents show staff at the public hospital in Orange can no longer provide abortion services for patients who present without medical complications, further restricting regional women's access to time-critical reproductive health care.
Decriminalisation was meant to give women access to safe, affordable abortions as a form of health care. Five years on, the ABC can reveal glaring examples of the system failing people in rural and regional areas at almost every step.
The silence around menopause has long been the norm in rural Australia — now a new generation of women are trying to reshape attitudes and services around this normal, natural phase of life.
A widely used test that determines whether women are in premature labour has been discontinued, and doctors say losing access could put further strain on emergency transport services in rural and remote areas.
Many children have spent weeks separated from at least one parent as families in flood-ravaged communities juggle work, school and farm life. Here's how a group of mums and some 'floody buddies' are easing the trauma.
Despite all the flooding this year, experts warn that country towns are even more likely to run out of water during the next drought, but why?
The federal government has allocated money to buy back water from irrigators in a bid to meet targets that some have deemed unreachable. Farmers' groups say basin communities are "triggered" by the news.
The government has announced a plan to buy back water from irrigators for the first time in a decade, setting up a showdown between stakeholders in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Fruit is rotting at Australian ports, as staff and funding shortfalls delay the import of produce and risk the destruction of crucial trade relationships, importers say.
A council on the NSW far south coast has rejected a developer's offer of a land swap for a controversial housing estate — that was first proposed in 1989 — which environmental groups say will endanger threatened plants and animals.
Viral fragments of foot-and-mouth-disease have been found in Australia. But what does that actually mean — and what would it look like if it spread throughout the country?
Australia is bolstering its defence against a disease that threatens to wipe out the country's farm and tourism sectors.
David Littleproud's backers say he is the best person to "unite the party" as the Coalition looks to rebuild itself in opposition.
The federal government wants to help more people crack into the rural property market by guaranteeing 40 per cent of their loan deposits, as farm values soar.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says there's a real risk the disease, which could devastate Australia's cattle industry, could be "blown in" from Indonesia.
After reluctantly signing the net zero carbon emissions pledge, the Nationals leader amassed a $20 billion regional war chest. But local mayors and voters want funding closer to home, as well as promised infrastructure.
As NSW and Queensland count the cost of another deadly flooding disaster, thousands of residents are facing an agonising decision — to rebuild or relocate? And many are wondering whether the billions spent on clean-up might be better off helping them move to safer ground.
The rate of population growth in the regions has tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic, putting extra stress on rural and regional infrastructure, especially housing.
Australia's longest-serving former deputy prime minister, Doug Anthony, dies in a nursing home at the age of 90, his family says.
Attempts to encourage Australians who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic to take up farm work appear to be failing, despite large cash incentives.
Grain growers are on track to produce the second biggest crop ever, following years of drought and as trade relations with China grow frostier.