Dr Paul Paterson was recently appointed as Chief Economist of the Commonwealth Department of Communications and Head of the new Australian Bureau of Communications Research. He brings more than 25 years? experience in advisory, regulatory, programme delivery, senior policy and research positions in the private and public sectors both in Australia and overseas to this role. He holds a PhD and Master of Economics from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics (First Class Honours), from the University of New England. He has a strong knowledge base in the telecommunications, media and postal sectors and, in particular, advising on issues such as fixed and mobile broadband network investment, access regulation, USO policy, media content rights and telecoms-media convergence.

Dr Paterson is currently finalising his role as a tribunal member of the NSW Government's Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). His past roles include a term as an independent advisor on the IT Start-ups Advisory Board and numerous research assignments, and, in his quieter moments, he has run his own consultancy practice.