Nada Ward was born at Burnt Bridge Mission. She was removed from her family along with seven of her siblings when she was aged two. The authorities took the children while their mother was attending a funeral. Ward was sent to Bomaderry Childrens' Home. At the age of eight Ward was sent with her sisters to Cootamundra Girls' Home while her brothers were sent to Kinchela Aboriginal Boys' Home. Ward had some access to her parents during this time but parental letters and gifts where withheld.
Between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two, Ward worked for a Doctor and was given pocket money but no wages. Ward later served as health worker for the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service.
Ward's story was recorded by the National Library of Australia for the Bringing Them Home oral history project and appeared in the associated publication Many Voices: Reflections on experiences of Indigenous child separation, edited by Doreen Mellor and Anna Haebich (2002).