[1] From Irish parents, Brady was born at Carcoar, New South Wales, and was educated both in the United States[2] and Sydney, Australia.

[4][5][6] It was suggested that Brady and fellow poet Henry Lawson contemplated with becoming 'New Australians' at the 1893 New Australia settlement in Paraguay, away from the influences of capitalism.

[13] In 1899, equipped with a notebook, gun, and camera, Brady drove a wagon from Sydney to Townsville (although intending to reach the Gulf of Carpentaria) and back, recording the lives of the settlers.

[14] Working at Grafton's Daily Examiner in New South Wales, Brady wrote under the pen-name Nedi Woolli.

[17] A passionate nationalist, he achieved his greatest fame with his book Australia Unlimited, a bestseller from its appearance in 1918, which urged dramatic increases in the national population.