When Memory Doesn't Cooperate: Why an Australian Science Prize Matters for Justice
Associate Professor Helen Paterson of the University of Sydney won the 2026 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Excellence in Forensic Science at a ceremony at Sydney Town Hall on 3 September 2026. She was recognised for research on how people remember events that happened more than once — and why those memories can trip them up in court.
Paterson's research shows that when someone experiences the same kind of event repeatedly, their memory tends to capture the general pattern rather than the fine details of any single time. They might also mix up one occasion with another. Think of it like recalling your daily drive to work: you remember the route in broad strokes, but you probably cannot describe exactly what happened on a specific Tuesday three months ago. This is just how memory works. But her findings also show that people describing repeated events are judged as less honest, less intelligent, and less believable than people describing something that happened once. That gap matters in courtrooms where survivors of domestic and family violence are asked to recall specific incidents from a long history of abuse. Paterson is involved in a University of Sydney project looking at how these memory challenges affect survivors of intimate partner violence, whose testimony often faces very high standards of proof University of Sydney.
The award follows a steady path. The University of Sydney named Paterson a finalist for the 2025 Eureka Prize, then listed her among eleven of its research projects shortlisted as 2026 finalists on 29 July 2026. The Australian Museum announced 58 finalists across all categories for the 2026 prizes Australian Museum.
Paterson was not the only researcher recognised for work that could change laws and policies. Associate Professor Jane Tiller of Monash University received a 2026 Eureka Prize for helping drive a new Australian law that bans life insurers from treating people unfairly based on their genetic test results. The law passed in April 2026 and takes effect on 8 October 2026 The Guardian.
Professor Georgina Long won the 2026 Eureka Prize for Scientific Research for her pioneering melanoma work, adding a clinical research dimension to the slate.
The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes were established in 1990 and recognise the work of Australian scientists and science communicators. The prizes honour excellence across research and innovation, leadership, science engagement, and school science, and are presented annually in partnership with scientific institutions, government organisations, universities, and corporations Australian Museum.
The broader context here is that Paterson's research addresses a tension that has existed for a long time in the legal system. Psychologists have long known that memory for repeated, similar events works differently from memory for a single, distinctive event. The legal system, though, often treats inconsistencies in testimony about repeated events as a sign that someone is lying or unreliable, rather than as a normal feature of how memory works when someone has lived through the same kind of trauma over and over. Paterson's finding that people judge repeated-event witnesses as less honest and less credible puts a number on a bias that survivors of domestic and family violence have described for years. The Eureka Prize gives institutional weight to research that, if courts take it on board, could change how judges and juries evaluate testimony in cases involving ongoing abuse.
Tiller's award and the genetic discrimination ban starting on 8 October sit at the same boundary between research and law. The ban on insurers using genetic test results addresses a growing problem: as genetic testing becomes more common, people may avoid getting tested — even when it could help their health — because they fear being denied insurance. The law's passage in April 2026 and October start date give insurers time to adjust, but the bigger question — whether governments should limit how private companies use people's health data — is one that countries around the world are wrestling with, and Australia's approach will be closely watched.
Taken together, the 2026 Eureka Prizes awarded to Paterson and Tiller point to a pattern: Australian science is being recognised not just for discovery but for its potential to reshape laws and regulations. Whether courts and insurance companies actually take up these findings is a question for the months and years ahead.
