AustLit

Barbara was born in Katherine, Northern Territory. Her mother, a Yanyuwa person, was from the Borroloola people in the Gulf of Carpentaria, and her father a non-Aboriginal from Sydney. She attended primary school in Alice Springs, and completed her secondary education at a boarding school in Sydney. In 1989, Barbara commenced a three-year cadetship with the ABC in Darwin, where she presented the Aboriginal video magazine that provided information for Aboriginal communities about events throughout the Territory. By mid 1991 she was graded as a journalist.