[6][7] Sword worked as an administrative secretary with the Overseas Service Bureau (now Australian Volunteers International) until 1991, when she joined the Refugee Studies Program at Oxford University in England as assistant to the development coordinator.

[4][9] Regarding the eventual media revelation that a member of a supposedly neutral organisation was spying against a host country, whether any lasting damage was done to the capacity of humanitarian aid and human rights organisations to work freely in Indonesia is difficult to assess, as none of the relevant agencies have been willing to make official statements;[citation needed] however, there was criticism of her public admission to – rather than the actions themselves – clandestine activities.

Writing in 2002 in a Sunday Telegraph article, Maree Curtis said that following the disclosures, critics pointed to possible risks to other aid workers "around the world who are already viewed with suspicion by jittery foreign regimes".

Sword rejected criticism of the ethics of her actions, stating that the agency that employed her was fully aware of her activities, and that as a contractor to the Overseas Service Bureau neither she nor the NGO were in breach of any codes.

In 2001 Sword Gusmão brought the case of sex trafficking victim Juliana dos Santos to the attention of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, as well as starting the Alola Foundation.

[4] During the 2006 East Timorese crisis, Sword Gusmão conducted media interviews and met Australian troops on behalf of her husband, who was immobile due to back pain.

[15] On 11 February 2008, national television reported that the motorcade of Gusmão had come under gunfire one hour after President Ramos-Horta was shot in the stomach; according to the Associated Press, the two incidents raised the possibility of a coup attempt.

In June 2015, Sword Gusmão was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) "For distinguished service to Australia-Timor-Leste relations through the development of mutual cooperation and understanding, particularly in the education sector, and as an advocate for improved health and living conditions for the Timorese people.