Dr Amber Halliday
Outstanding Alumni Contribution to Sport Award recipient 2024
Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology) 2000, Bachelor of Media 2004, Graduate Diploma in Psychology 2013, Bachelor of Health Science (Hons) 2014, Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology 2019
Dr Amber Halliday is a three-time rowing world champion, two-time Olympian, and national champion in cycling. Having retired from her athletic sporting career, she now contributes through the Women in Sport Taskforce and is a member of Sport Integrity Australia’s Advisory Council. Amber also works with individuals and teams, helping them to leverage the psychosocial benefits of sport.
Amber’s Olympic dream formed over many years—she was not an athlete during her school days. She says it was simply love of rowing that eventually led her to become a world-class athlete. “I just found a sport that I loved… I enjoyed it, and I kept wanting to get a little bit better every day. And I guess that took me to the Olympics.”
Two years before her first Olympic games, Amber’s crew won gold in an Olympic event at the World Rowing Championships. “That’s when I allowed myself to believe that we could get to the Olympics,” says Amber. “I didn't I didn't want to believe I could get there until I knew I could.”
Amber credits a few formative early career disappointments as having built her resilience for the immense challenges of being an elite athlete. “Learning to overcome those early setbacks really set me up for the rest of my career.”
“Learning to overcome those early setbacks really set me up for the rest of my career."
That same resilience saw her through a long recovery from a traumatic brain injury after a cycle racing accident in 2011.
Named the South Australian Sports Star of the Year in 2007, Amber’s accolades also extend to academia; she holds a total of five degrees from the University of Adelaide: a Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology) (2000), a Bachelor of Media (2004), a Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science (2013), an Honours in Social Science – Psychology (2014), and a PhD in Psychology (2019).
Being an athlete can feel inward-looking, Amber says, and she now relishes the chance to help others through her performance consulting and speaking work. “Since retiring, it's almost like a chance to look outwards and to really try and help people get the same things out of sport that that I did.”