A member of the Labor Party, she was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1977 and was Minister for Community Welfare Services from 1982 to 1985.
She was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in a by-election in 1977, winning the seat of Greensborough for the ALP, and became the opposition spokeswoman on community services and women's affairs.
When the ALP formed government in 1982, Toner became the Minister for Community Welfare Services, and the first woman to hold a ministerial position in the Victorian Parliament.
Toner's work focussed on the rights of children, and her legacy includes the introduction of laws that made it easier for adoptees to obtain information about their adoption.
In 1986 the Eltham Copper Butterfly (Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida), thought to be extinct, was rediscovered in the Greensborough electorate.