Sarah is a specialist in international law and a Professor in the Faculty of Law & Justice at UNSW Sydney, an Associate of the Australian Human Rights Institute and an Associate of the Centre for Criminology, Law & Justice. She is also the Chair of the NSW International Humanitarian Law Committee for the Australian Red Cross. 

Prior to joining UNSW, Sarah was the Dorset Fellow in Public International Law at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (from 2008 - 2010), a Senior Legal Researcher at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (from 2006 - 2007) and a Lecturer at Durham Law School, University of Durham (from 2003 - 2008). She has been a consultant for a range of organisations and civil society actors, including the European Commission, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the British Red Cross and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Her areas of expertise include international criminal law, international humanitarian law and disaster law.