[1] Ryan's parents were left-wing activists who were former members of the Communist Party of Australia; her father was a butcher by profession.
[1] Her mother, a public servant, was a prominent feminist and represented the Australian Labor Party on the Fairfield Municipal Council in the 1950s and 1960s.
She completed a Master of Arts in history at the Australian National University in 1969, during which time she worked as a research assistant to historian Manning Clark.
[1] Ryan completed a PhD at Macquarie University in 1975, her thesis was titled "Aborigines in Tasmania, 1800–1974 and their problems with the Europeans".
Her work was later criticised by Keith Windschuttle who suggested there were discrepancies between Ryan's claims and her supporting evidence, thus drawing her into the "history wars".
[6] Ryan has suggested the map is an important step in acknowledging the extensive violence used against indigenous people in Australia's history.