The New Zealand Association of Scientists awarded Halton its Research Medal in 1974, and the Shorland Medal in 2001. In 1980, he received the ICI Medal for excellence in chemical research from the NZIC. Halton was elected a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry in 1977, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1992. In 2005, he was awarded an honorary fellowship of the NZIC.