Career
He was the head of the Australian Conservation Foundation from 1986 to 1992. He negotiated the Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Acting and the successful native title claim of the traditional owners of Uluru in 1983. He was awarded the title of in 2012, "Foreign distinguished service to environmental law through executive and advisory roles, particularly the introduction of a National Landcare Program, to the protection and restoration of Australian landscapes, and to the Indigenous community." He was the author of two books, Growing up the country: the Pitjantjatjara struggle for their land (1984), The reluctant nation: environment, law, and politics in Australia (1994), Toyne lived in Gundaroo and died in 2015 of bowel cancer, aged 67.