Dr Marisa Paterson is the Member for Murrumbidgee in the ACT Legislative Assembly.

Prior to being elected, Marisa was the Director of the Centre for Gambling Research at the Australian National University.

Since 2005, Marisa has been conducting social policy research, with a particular focus on gambling and Indigenous issues in Australia. Her PhD in Anthropology (completed 2014, Charles Darwin University) specifically analysed the impacts of gambling on remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The doctoral research was an Australian Research Council (ARC) Postgraduate Award – Industry (APAI), part of an innovative partnership between the ARC, Charles Darwin University and the Northern Territory Justice Department. This research was the first PhD in Australia to extensively analyse the social and economic impacts of gambling on remote Aboriginal communities.