Dr Keith Ernest Tronc OAM passed away on Friday 18 March aged 86.
Dr Tronc was a highly respected educator and barrister, focusing on cases involving schools and the law. He was well known throughout Australia for his dedication to the law, and the depth and breadth of his knowledge. He was widely acknowledged as the nation’s foremost expert practitioner in training teachers and educational administrators in matters of professional duty of care.
Dr Tronc also served as sub-editor for the Queensland Reports.
He had been honoured with Fellowships of the Australian Council of Educational Administration and the Queensland Institute of Educational Administration.
He was a contributor to the ‘Education and Research’ section of Halsbury’s Laws of Australia, the Duty Lawyer Handbook, and the Queensland Police Prosecutors’ Manual.
He was highly educated, having gained 10 university degrees from four universities. He taught at five universities, attaining the title of Associate Professor. He wrote 28 books on education, educational administration, schools and the law, justices of the peace, and organisational communication. He authored more than 200 legal articles for professional journals and wrote more than 1000 expert witness reports for courts in Australia.
Dr Tronc was a consultant to government in JP reform, having written the 1989 green paper on which the Justices of the Peace and Commissioners for Declarations Act 1991 was based. He wrote all nine of the official government training manuals and instructors’ handbooks for JP training.
In 2016 he was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to the education and the legal profession.
The annual Dr Keith Tronc national award for teaching excellence was awarded by Australian Council of Educational Leaders in his honour.
He retired from practising law in June 2021 due to deteriorating health. Right up until his retirement, his services were in high demand from law firms all over Australia.
He is survived by his wife Deneice, his three children and six grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at St Andrew’s Anglican Church, South Brisbane, at 2pm this Friday 25 March.
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