Sarah Schwartz is an Australian human rights lawyer and the Executive Director of the Jewish Council of Australia. Raised in Sydney, she completed her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney, was awarded a John Monash Scholarship in 2019, and earned a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School, where her research focused on critical race theory, policing, and mass incarceration.
Schwartz’s legal career focuses on police accountability, protest rights, prisoner rights, and coronial inquests into Aboriginal deaths in custody. She previously served as Principal Managing Lawyer at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) and currently holds positions as Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre and Lecturer at Melbourne Law School.
In 2023, Schwartz co-founded the Jewish Council of Australia, an independent organization of Jewish scholars, lawyers, and writers formed to represent non-Zionist and progressive Jewish perspectives. The organization advocates against conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism and supports Palestinian human rights. Schwartz regularly writes for Australian media outlets and participates in public discussions on hate speech, democratic rights, and Middle East policy. Schwartz is one of the signatories of the 2025 public statement, “Global Jewish Call on the UN and World Leaders to Sanction Israel.”