Lucy Barbour

1 week ago | abc.net.au | Lucy Barbour

Local in the outback town of Winton in central west Queensland are tired of seeing families forced apart of out of town due to the lack of aged care available. A Coalition election promise to build a new aged care facility has brought hope to the town.

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Lucy Barbour

A Liberal-National Coalition government will seek to end childcare deserts, improve healthcare access and fund more roads and infrastructure in the regions, with a $20 billion fund that would exist in perpetuity. The Regional Australia Future Fund (RAFF) would sit under a new 'Future Australia Fund'. It would provide a $1 billion dividend each year to pay for infrastructure and services that local councils cannot afford, including ways to boost phone and internet connectivity.

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Lucy Barbour

Among more than 200,000 retired Australians who rent, two-thirds are living in poverty. And older single women are disproportionately affected. New analysis from the Grattan Institute calls for the major parties to raise Rent Assistance - a fortnightly sum available to renters who already receive welfare.

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Lucy Barbour

Lyn's first football match was Footscray Bulldogs icon Ted Whitten's last. Her home, deep in a Melbourne industrial pocket where she has rented for 12 years, remains a shrine to her beloved Bulldogs. She is, as Whitten was, an embodiment of the working-class western suburbs. Lyn now faces the very real threat of having to pack up her Bulldogs memorabilia and leave, with nowhere else to go. "I feel I'm letting a lot of people down in what has become of my situation," she said.

Jan 19, 2025 | abc.net.au | Lucy Barbour

Doctors "heartbroken and incensed" by last year's abortion ban at a regional New South Wales hospital say they have taken their concerns to the state's independent corruption watchdog. In November, the ABC revealed that staff at Orange hospital in central west NSW had been directed to stop providing abortions to patients who did not have medical reasons for a termination of pregnancy.