Born in Sydney but growing up in Perth, Schwartz began her media career in 1982 when she secured a cadetship at the ABC after graduating from high school, working in the newsrooms for both ABC Television and ABC Radio.[1] She then moved to the ABC in Melbourne where she was based in the ABC's radio current affairs department, working on programs such as AM and The World Today.[1]
In 1986, she moved to SBS where she was one of four permanent Melbourne-based reporters for SBS World News.[5] Following a brief period with the Seven Network where she worked on Terry Willesee Tonight, Schwartz relocated to Japan.[1] In Japan, she was an editor for Knight Ridder's news wire service while also working as a reporter and presenter for Japan Cable Television.[1][4]
In 1992, Schwartz became a founding reporter for ABC TV's new current affairs program Foreign Correspondent, hosted by George Negus.[6] She worked on the program as a full-time reporter for six years, becoming an occasional contributor after being appointed as the ABC's Jerusalem-based Middle East correspondent in 1997.[7] In that role, she continued filing stories for Foreign Correspondent, as well as Lateline and The 7.30 Report.[7]
Schwartz was appointed as the anchor of the South Australian edition of ABC News on ABS-2 in 2001.[8] She continued in that role until 2010 when she took up the position as the ABC's New Zealand correspondent in 2010.[8]
In late 2014, Schwartz returned to Australia and became the ABC's national rural and regional correspondent, based in Brisbane.[9]
Her time at the ABC came to an end in 2020 when she was one of a number of high-profile presenters and reporters whose positions were made redundant.[10][11]
Since leaving the ABC, Schwartz has worked as the associate director of communications for the Regional Australia Institute, and as the senior associate of communications for Pew Charitable Trusts.[12][13]