Nominations are now open for the 2026 Australian Skeptics Bent Spoon award, one of the least sought-after credits in the Skeptical world … or any world, for that matter.
It has been awarded every year since 1982* and it recognises the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle.
Luminaries who have been past winners include Paleo Pete Evans (twice!), journalist and UFO proponent Ross Coulthart (who is still saying “Any day now…”), Larry Marshall (head of CSIRO), former MP Craig Kelly, RMIT, Judy Wilyman and the University of Wollongong, Meryl Dorey and the AVN (aka AVSN, and now the AVRN), the pharmacists of Australia, and in 2025 Barbara O’Neill for medical conspiracies and debunked alternative treatments.
If you would like to put someone forward for this non-prestigious award, then go to the Bent Spoon page for more info on how to enter, details on current nominees, and a list of past winners.
Nominations should be for events, activities or claims that have occurred in Australia or by Australians.
The winner of the Bent Spoon will be announced later in 2026.
*With the exception of 1988, the year when nothing happened.
