Born in Newcastle, Australia, Elizabeth Toohey is a graduate of the Australian Ballet School. She joined the Australian Ballet in 1980 and entered the 5th International Ballet Competition in Moscow with David McAllister in 1985. They guested with the Bolshoi Ballet in 1986 and the Maryinsky Ballet in 1988 performing Don Quixote. A guest Principal with Norwegian National Ballet, Estonian National Ballet, Lithuanian National Ballet, Georgian State Ballet (Tblisi) and English National Ballet, she retired in 1991 and was Assistant to the Director of ENB until 1996.

She joined Royal Swedish Ballet as Rehabilitation Coach in 2005. In 2008, she became Ballet Mistress with the company and in 2017 returned to the Australian Ballet as Ballet Mistress. Christopher Wheeldon has entrusted her with restaging Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for the Australian Ballet, National Ballet of Japan and National Ballet of Canada. As a freelance teacher, she has guested with the Royal Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet. In March 2024, Elizabeth Toohey joined Stuttgart Ballet as Principal Ballet Mistress.