[1][2] Hammond was born in 1936 in Blackford, an independent Aboriginal community on the south-east coast of South Australia, and was a member of the Tanganekald group of the Ngarrindjeri people of the Coorong.
[1][3] Ruby obtained school certificate in 1952 but the tough conditions at work in a shop made her touch racism against her.
[7] Hammond was appointed by the Whitlam Government to the Australian National Advisory Committee on International Women's year (1975).
[11] In January 1993 Hammond was awarded the Australian Public Service Medal, which was presented to her by Her Excellency the Governor of South Australia, Dame Roma Mitchell.
[2] In 2002 an artwork recognising Hammond's contributions to the advancement of Indigenous Australians was included in Reconciliation Place, Canberra.