Australian National Research Articles

Discovery of a new blue large-amplitude pulsator in the SkyMapper DR2: SMSS J184506.82−300804.7

ABSTRACT We report the discovery of a new Blue Large-Amplitude Pulsator (BLAP), SMSS J184506−300804 (SMSS-BLAP-1) in Data Release 2 of the SkyMapper Southern Sky Survey. We conduct high-cadence photometric observations in the u band to confirm a periodic modulation of the light curve. SMSS-BLAP-1 has a ∼19-min pulsation period with an amplitude of 0.2 mag in u band, and is similar to the classical BLAPs found by OGLE. From spectroscopic observations with the Wide-Field Spectrograph on the Australian National University 2.3m telescope, we confirm it as a low-gravity BLAP: best-fitting parameters from the non-LTE tlusty model are estimated as Teff = 29 020$^{+193}_{-34}$ K, logg = 4.661$^{+0.008}_{-0.143}$ (cm s−2), and logn(He)/n(H) = −2.722$^{+0.057}_{-0.074}$ dex. However, our BLAP exhibits a very He-deficient atmosphere compared to both low- and high-gravity BLAPs, which have logn(He)/n(H) in the range −0.41∼−2.4.

Adaptation of the Australian National University Alzheimer's Disease Risk Index-Short Form (ANU-ADRI-SF) into Turkish.

The 'Australian National University Alzheimer's Disease Risk Index' (ANU-ADRI) assesses the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is a potential tool for its prevention. The aim of this study is to adapt the ANU-ADRI-SF (the short version of ANU-ADRI) into the Turkish language and Turkish cultural context. The study was methodological and involved the translation and intercultural adaptation of the ANU-ADRI-SF into the Turkish language. The study included 384 community-based participants from a province in the Western Black Sea Region of Türkiye. Data was collected via an online form prepared using Google Forms. The index was translated from its original language, English, into Turkish and then retranslated to English by bilingual translators. It was then reviewed and evaluated for possible issues related to translation and degrees of equivalence. When TR-ANU-ADRI-SF levels were compared according to sex, the mean risk scores were found to be 11.25 ± 7.02 for males and 11.69 ± 7.99 for females. After cross-cultural adaptation, the TR-ANU-ADRI-SF was conceptually intelligible to Turkish adults. The TR-ANU-ADRI-SF is a valid and reliable AD risk assessment tool. Given the increase in AD and its impact on people's health, there is a great need for strategies to be implemented by health professionals to improve the lifestyle of the adult population. For use in conjunction with these strategies, a localised AD risk assessment tool that can be applied by clinicians or by individual patients has been adapted and introduced to the Turkish literature.

Estimates of global mortality burden associated with short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2·5)

The acute health effects of short-term (hours to days) exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2·5) have been well documented; however, the global mortality burden attributable to this exposure has not been estimated. We aimed to estimate the global, regional, and urban mortality burden associated with short-term exposure to PM2·5 and the spatiotemporal variations in this burden from 2000 to 2019. We combined estimated global daily PM2·5 concentrations, annual population counts, country-level mortality rates, and epidemiologically derived exposure-response functions to estimate the mortality attributable to short-term PM2·5 exposure from 2000 to 2019, in the continental regions and in 13 189 urban centres worldwide at a spatial resolution of 0·1° × 0·1°. We tested the robustness of our mortality estimates with different theoretical minimum risk exposure levels, lag effects, and exposure-response functions. Approximately 1 million (95% CI 690 000-1·3 million) premature deaths per year from 2000 to 2019 were attributable to short-term PM2·5 exposure, representing 2·08% (1·41-2·75) of total global deaths or 17 (11-22) premature deaths per 100 000 population. Annually, 0·23 million (0·15 million-0·30 million) deaths attributable to short-term PM2·5 exposure were in urban areas, constituting 22·74% of the total global deaths attributable to this cause and accounting for 2·30% (1·56-3·05) of total global deaths in urban areas. The sensitivity analyses showed that our worldwide estimates of mortality attributed to short-term PM2·5 exposure were robust. Short-term exposure to PM2·5 contributes a substantial global mortality burden, particularly in Asia and Africa, as well as in global urban areas. Our results highlight the importance of mitigation strategies to reduce short-term exposure to air pollution and its adverse effects on human health. Australian Research Council and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.

What impact has the Centre of Research Excellence in Digestive Health made in the field of gastrointestinal health in Australia and internationally? Study protocol for impact evaluation using the FAIT framework

IntroductionThe need for public research funding to be more accountable and demonstrate impact beyond typical academic outputs is increasing. This is particularly challenging and the science behind this form of...

Not only Väterliteratur: The engagement of several media in talking about the Nazi past in Wolfgang Glück’s Die kleine Figur meines Vaters (1980)

This article explores the adaptation of Peter Henisch’s novel Die kleine Figur meines Vaters made by Wolfgang Glück. The film produced by three (Austrian, West German and Hungarian) television companies focuses on conversations between father and son that relate to the Nazi past of the latter. What initially was planned as a biographical novel, in the end, became an intermedial work drawing on literature, a magnetic tape containing a recorded oral testimony, photography and film. In this article, I examine the film’s narration and reception to demonstrate that it was one of the first Austrian movies to deal directly with the ambiguous role ordinary Austrians played in National Socialism, which in fact preceded the political debate on Austria’s past generated by the election of Kurt Waldheim to the president’s office in 1986. The analysis of the film was possible thanks to the research conducted in the Austrian National Library in Vienna and the Archives of the Bavarian Television (BR) in Munich.

How to conduct monetary policies. The ECB in the past, present and future

We study the evolving operating procedures used by the ECB since its creation. During the period up to 2015, bank reserves were scarce and the ECB, like other central banks, used a corridor system in which the money market rate could fluctuate within the bounds set by the lending and the deposit rates. With the start of Quantitative Easing (QE) the operating procedure evolved into a regime of reserve abundance. This regime has become problematic since the inflation surge forced the central banks to raise the policy rate. The result has been a massive transfer of central banks’ profits (and more) to the banks. We propose a two-tier system of reserve requirements that would only remunerate the reserves in excess of the minimum required. This would drastically reduce the giveaways to banks, allow the central banks to maintain their current operating procedures and make monetary policies more effective in fighting inflation.This paper was presented at the ECB@25 Symposium at Erasmus University, Rotterdam on 16th January 2024. We are grateful to Mary Pieterse-Bloem, Sylvester Eijffinger, Casper de Vries, Charles Goodhart and other participants in the Symposium for comments and suggestions. We also profited from comments and suggestions of an anonymous referee.Previous versions of this paper (De Grauwe and Ji, 2023a, 2023b) profited from comments by Ignazio Angeloni, Peter Bofinger, Robert Holzmann, Pablo Rovira Kaltwasser, Karel Lannoo, Vivien Lévy-Garboua, Anna Lozmann, David Marsh, Wim Moesen, Joachim Nagel, Theo Peeters, Stefan Schmitz, Miklos Vari, and by participants in seminars and presentations at the London School of Economics, King’s College (London), the Bundesbank, the Central Bank of Luxembourg, OMFIF, Sciences Po (Paris), the Austrian National Bank, SUERF, the Polish National Bank and the National Bank of Ukraine.

Real-time high-resolution modelling of grid carbon emissions intensity

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy industry is broadly acknowledged as important with numerous countries implementing targets to reduce emissions. Understanding the carbon emissions intensity of electricity grids is an important step in this process, and higher spatial and temporal granularity estimates are critical for delivering actionable insights. Existing emissions intensity models are limited in terms of their real-time availability and, in particular, their spatial granularity. Here we outline a method for estimating emissions intensity of large-scale interconnected electricity networks in real-time at substation-level resolution. This is realized by integrating nation-wide high-resolution electricity generation and demand data, regional population data, a detailed model of the electricity grid, and power flow simulation and flow tracing models. Results for Australia's National Electricity Market reveal that most capital city locations have higher emissions intensity than neighbouring regional areas, though the variation within a city can also be substantial. In general, emissions intensity is higher in areas closer to, or directly fed by emissions intensive coal and gas generators. These results have important implications for the design of energy efficiency incentives and demand response strategies, in the rollout of distributed renewable generation, and in carbon accounting.

Co-optimisation of wind and solar energy and intermittency for renewable generator site selection

Sites for the construction of wind and solar farms have typically been chosen to maximise total energy generation of an individual site, but rarely consider the intermittency of the renewable resource available at each location. As more renewable generation is added to electricity grids around the world, this intermittency is rapidly becoming a major factor constraining the volume of renewable generation that can be added cost-effectively, as additional fast-response storage or dispatchable generation must compensate for periods of low renewable generation. We present a statistical approach to selecting wind and solar generation sites that assesses energy and intermittency of individual wind, solar and co-sited wind plus solar farm locations, allowing energy and intermittency to be given weight when selecting sites for new generation. A new multi-objective pareto-front approach to identifying high-performing renewable generation sites that allows for optimising multi-site selection using the median (energy) and median absolute difference (intermittency) of historical weather resource is proposed. This technique is then applied to a 30-year, hourly, Australian weather reanalysis dataset to show the potential improvement over the fleet of wind and solar farms currently operating in the Australian National Energy Market. Finally, an analysis of potential sites for optimal offshore wind and combined offshore wind and solar is presented. The proposed wind-only and solar-only sites show an average energy increase of 9% (solar, 67 sites), 28% (wind, 50 sites) more energy for the same level of intermittency, as compared to the existing generation sites. Three existing combined wind and solar sites were compared to the best three proposed sites, which showed a 3-16% energy increase for the same intermittency, or a 2-11% intermittency decrease for the same energy generated.

Interventions to prevent post-tuberculosis sequelae: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global public health challenge, causing substantial mortality and morbidity. While TB treatment has made significant progress, it often leaves survivors with post-TB sequelae, resulting in long-term health issues. Current healthcare systems and guidelines lack comprehensive strategies to address post-TB sequelae, primarily due to insufficient evidence. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to identify effective interventions for preventing post-TB sequelae. A systematic search was conducted across four databases including PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception to September 22, 2023. Eligible studies reported interventions designed to prevent post-TB sequelae were included. A random effect meta-analysis was conducted where applicable, and heterogeneity between studies was evaluated visually using forest plots and quantitatively using an index of heterogeneity (I2). This study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023464392). From the 2525 unique records screened, 25 studies involving 10,592 participants were included. Different interventions were evaluated for different outcomes. However, only a few interventions were effective in preventing post-TB sequelae. Rehabilitation programs significantly improved lung function (Hedges's g=0.21; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.03, 0.39) and prevented neurological sequelae (relative risk (RR)=0.10; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.42). Comprehensive interventions and cognitive-behavioural therapy significantly reduced the risk of mental health disorders among TB survivors (Hedges's g=-1.89; 95% CI:-3.77,-0.01). In contrast, interventions targeting post-TB liver sequelae, such as vitamin A and vitamin D supplementation and hepatoprotective agents, did not show significant reductions in sequelae (RR=0.90; 95% CI: 0.52, 1.57). Moreover, adjunctive therapies did not show a significant effect in preventing post-TB neurological sequelae (RR=0.62, 95% CI: 0.31, 1.24). Rehabilitation programs prevented post-TB lung, neurologic and mental health sequelae, while adjuvant therapies and other interventions require further investigation. Healy Medical Research Raine Foundation, Curtin School of Population Health and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.

Wind Effect on External Fire Spread through Openings under the Protection of Horizontal Projections or Vertical Spandrels—A Numerical Study

A numerical investigation has been conducted to analyse the effect of wind on the vertical spread of fire through a front opening in a building’s external walls. The study utilises a building geometry established from previous experimental work conducted by the National Research Council of Canada (NRCC). A horizontal projection or a vertical spandrel is introduced above the opening of the compartment of fire origin. The purpose of the projection or spandrel is to inhibit the vertical spread of the fire, following the relevant requirements in the Australian National Construction Code (NCC). A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package for fire-driven fluid flow, namely the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), is employed to simulate the fire behaviour. The FDS model is validated against the NRCC’s experimental results, and a good agreement is achieved. Winds from three horizontal directions (front wind is normal to the opening, side wind is parallel to the opening, and back wind is from behind the building) have been investigated, with speeds ranging up to 10 m/s for each wind direction. Front wind speeds below 1 m/s are found to slightly enhance the vertical spread of the fire, while speeds exceeding 1 m/s are inclined to promote horizontal spread. The impact of side wind on the vertical fire spread was also found to vary with wind speed. The increase in the speed of back wind influences flame buoyancy, resulting in an augmented vertical fire spread. Furthermore, the numerical results reveal that a vertical spandrel of 1100 mm height is less effective in preventing vertical fire spread through openings, compared to a 1100 mm deep horizontal projection. The study suggests that the fire safety design in reducing the hazard of vertical fire spread through openings in buildings’ external walls could be further improved if the effect of wind is considered.

Regulating vulnerability: policy approaches for preventing violence and abuse of people with disability in Australian service provision settings

This article analyses policy frameworks designed to protect people with disability from harm in service provision settings and respond to their experiences of violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation, with a focus on the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The creation of a new disability services market has facilitated greater choice and empowerment for NDIS participants, but has also exposed them to new risks and vulnerabilities. Drawing on feminist vulnerability theory, a policy audit, and qualitative research with seventeen key stakeholders, the article reflects on the need to incorporate more nuanced understandings of vulnerability in safeguarding policy and respond to the situational and pathogenic vulnerability created by the way systems and structures operate. It identifies opportunities to enhance the personal autonomy of people with disability through accessible pathways for complaints and justice, and greater focus on natural and mainstream safeguarding systems in complementing disability-specific systems.

Trend estimation of sub-national level daily smoking prevalence by age and sex in Australia.

Despite that the smoking prevalence has considerably declined in Australia after successful public health strategies over many decades, smoking is still the leading cause of preventable diseases and death in Australia. These declines have not occurred consistently across all geographical-demographic domains. In order to provide an evidence base for monitoring the trend towards the goal of reducing smoking across all domains in Australia, this study aims to estimate trends of smoking prevalence for small domains cross-classified by seven age groups (18-24, 25-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and ≥70 years), two genders, and eight states and territories over twenty years (2001-2021). Direct estimates of smoking prevalence for the target small domains were calculated from the micro-data of the Australian National Health Surveys conducted in seven rounds during 2001-2021. The obtained direct estimates were then used as input for developing time-series models expressed in a hierarchical Bayesian structure as a form of small-area estimation. The developed models borrow cross-sectional, temporal, and spatial strength in such a way that they can interpolate smoking levels in the non-survey years for all detailed level small domains. Smoothed trends of smoking prevalence for higher aggregation levels are obtained by aggregation of the detailed level trend predictions. Model-based small area estimators provide consistent and reasonable smoothed trends at both detailed and higher aggregation levels. Results show that the national-level trend exhibits a steeper linear decline over the study period, from 24% in 2001 to 12% in 2021, with a considerable gender difference of around 5% over the period, with males reporting a higher prevalence. Improved model-based estimates at the state level and by age also show steady declines in trends except for the Northern Territory (still above 20%) and older age groups 60-69 and ≥70 years (declining trends remain stable after 2012). The findings of the study identify the geographical-demographic groups that had poor improvement over the period 2001-2021, and are still behind the target of achieving lower smoking prevalence. These, in turn, will help health researchers and policymakers deliver targeted programs to the most vulnerable, enabling the nation to meet its health goals in a timely way.

The “problem” of Australian First Nations doctoral education: a policy analysis

PurposeSocial marketing and government policy are intertwined. Despite this, policy analysis by social marketers is rare. This paper aims to address the dearth of policy analysis in social marketing and introduce and model a methodology grounded in Indigenous knowledge and from an Indigenous standpoint. In Australia, a minuscule number of First Nations people complete doctoral degrees. The most recent, major policy review, the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA) Report, made a series of recommendations, with some drawn from countries that have successfully uplifted Indigenous doctoral candidates’ success. This paper “speaks back” to the ACOLA Report.Design/methodology/approachThis paper subjects the ACOLA Report, implementation plans and evaluations to a detailed Indigenous Critical Discourse Analysis using Nakata’s Indigenous standpoint theory and Bacchi’s Foucauldian discourse analysis to trace why policy borrowing from other countries is challenging if other elements of the political, social and cultural landscape are fundamentally unsupportive of reforms.FindingsThis paper makes arguments about the effects produced by the way the “problem” of First Nations doctoral education has been represented in this suite of Australian policy documents and the ways in which changes could be made that would actually address the pressing need for First Nations doctoral success in Australia.Originality/valueConducting policy analysis benefits social marketers in many ways, helping to navigate policy complexities and advocate for meaningful policy reforms for a social cause. This paper aims to spark more social marketing policy analysis and introduces a methodology uncommon to social marketing.

Haiku and Country: The connect between First Nations Country and Bashō's enduring principles for the writing of Haiku

Examining the sense of embodiment in the art and culture of Australian First Nations and Country and how this is paralleled in the poetics and practice of writing haiku as it originated in Japan.

Does the Australian school system and curriculum support young people to become active and informed citizens?

AbstractDoes the Australian school system and curriculum support students to become active and informed’ members of the community, which is a key aspiration of the Australian school system set out in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration? We address this question by drawing on the Australian National Assessment Program (NAP) civics and citizenship data. The NAP data measures Year 6 and Year 10 students’ awareness of civics and citizenship content as well as their participation in civics and citizenship-related activities at school. The data suggests that students are being informed about social, political and economic issues, but there are differences between students with respect to their active engagement in civics and citizenship related activities at school deriving from their parents’ educational level and age group. But the curriculum is also at issue here. The prescriptive Australian Curriculum framework has a heavy emphasis on academic learning particularly during the secondary years, which sidelines active participation in civics and citizenship education. Furthermore, the Australian Curriculum constrains teachers in their ability to enact a truly negotiated curriculum that is meaningful to students and may enhance their sense of being part of the community and citizens of a democratic society.

Dentistry for patients with haemophilia: Trialling a safe and economical change in management.

While the dental management of patients with haemophilia has changed considerably in the last decade, haemophiliacs in Western Australia have continued to receive pre-operative factor support for dentistry regardless of the type of dental procedure. To review the efficacy and safety of established dental protocols that reduce factor use in the dental management of patients with haemophilia and to estimate cost savings. Records of 11 patients with haemophilia that were seen in the pilot programme period were reviewed. These were cross-referenced with previous dental and haematology notes that stated the amount and type of pre-operative factor used. Cost savings were estimated using the Australian National Blood Authority's Product List. All study participants were male, and included those with haemophilia A (n=9), and B (n=2). Mean age was 45 years (range 22-80). A variety of dental treatments were undertaken, and no pre-operative factor was used. Patients on prophylaxis (n=6) received dental treatment the same day as their regular factor administration. It was estimated AUD$26,314 was saved by not using pre-operative factor. One patient had bleeding post-extraction and was seen the following day to achieve haemostasis using local measures. The remaining patients had no complaints of post-operative bleeding, and did not require any further haemostatic measures. This pilot programme supports data that haemophiliacs can safely receive a variety of dental treatments without the need for pre-operative factor, and the significant cost savings of doing so. Further data is required to support this protocol for invasive dental procedures.

Challenging the role of resilience and vulnerability in narratives of well-being

We analyse prevailing discourse on resilience and vulnerability amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on well-being. This involves a critical review of the Australian Governmental National Mental Health and Wellbeing Pandemic Response Plan, and the enforced lockdown of inner-Melbourne public housing tours by the Victorian Government. We explore these issues within the framework of neoliberal processes that responsibilise individuals for their own well-being. We suggest that Contemporary forms of discourse on resilience are actually unable to address the core issue they seek to confront; vulnerability. We argue that locating responsibility for resilience and well-being with individuals may well exacerbate their vulnerability and ignores any sense of collective responsibility for the well-being of marginalised groups. We propose that the connection between vulnerability and well-being is a moral concern that should be incorporated into political agendas and policies. These should affirm collective responsibility for well-being. Drawing on relational autonomy theorists, we assert that vulnerability is intrinsic to human flourishing, shaped by relational dynamics. Instead of using vulnerability as a tool to justify neoliberal agendas, we advocate for a transformation in our shared narrative of well-being. This shift should focus on embracing vulnerability as an integral part of well-being in relationships, rather than fixating on resilience and well-being as an individual responsibility.

Glorious in Spring, Exhilarating in Winter: Advertising Mount Buffalo in Walkabout Magazine, 1934–1939

This article examines advertisements for Mount Buffalo National Park, published in the Australian National Travel Association (ANTA)’s Walkabout magazine in the mid- to late 1930s. Situating these texts in the wider context of ANTA’s documentary archive, I argue that they reveal how ANTA both intuited and sought to shape middle-class settler Australians’ identification and interaction with nature and the nation. Furthermore, ANTA’s estimation of what kinds of experiences middle-class tourists wanted demonstrates mid-century ideas around harnessing nature for development through mass recreation. These advertisements also evoked an idealised vision of Australian nature as an egalitarian and classless playground, where youthful and healthy settlers enjoyed the nation’s great outdoors. The extent to which this vision was ANTA’s alone and the extent to which ANTA produced it according to its perception of the values and aspirations of Walkabout’s middle-class audience is a key consideration of this article.

Per Andersen. 12 January 1930—17 February 2020

Per Andersen was one of the leading neuroscientists of the second half of the twentieth century. He spent his entire career at the University of Oslo, apart from an exceptionally productive postdoctoral period with Sir John Eccles FRS at the Australian National University in Canberra between 1961 and 1963. As a PhD student he laid the foundation of field potential analysis, which allowed synaptic function in laminated cortical structures such as the hippocampus to be followed for long periods in intact animals, an essential technical prerequisite for the study of the synaptic basis of memory. In Canberra he identified the neurons responsible for feed-back inhibition in the hippocampus and feed-forward inhibition in the cerebellum, the first inhibitory neurons to be functionally identified in the mammalian brain. Per's Canberra achievements catapulted him to superstar status, and enabled him on his return to Oslo in 1963 to establish a laboratory that played a major role over the following decades in characterizing the functional properties of hippocampal synapses. From his laboratory emerged a string of significant advances, including the discovery of long-term potentiation, a form of synaptic plasticity widely believed to support learning and memory, and the introduction of the transverse hippocampal slice, which rapidly became the dominant preparation for investigating the properties of hippocampal neurons. Young researchers, many from the USA and Canada, flocked to his laboratory for postdoctoral training, adding to the steady stream of Norwegian doctoral students, two of whom went on to win the Nobel Prize. Per was also committed to the importance of communicating scientific advances to the general public, and contributed prolifically over the years to the Norwegian media, commentating on advances in neuroscience and their relevance to neurological disorders.

Non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viral detection and whole genome sequencing from COVID-19 rapid antigen test devices: a laboratory evaluation study

There has been high uptake of rapid antigen test device use for point-of-care COVID-19 diagnosis. Individuals who are symptomatic but test negative on COVID-19 rapid antigen test devices might have a different respiratory viral infection. We aimed to detect and sequence non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viruses from rapid antigen test devices, which could assist in the characterisation and surveillance of circulating respiratory viruses in the community. We applied archival clinical nose and throat swabs collected between Jan 1, 2015, and Dec 31, 2022, that previously tested positive for a common respiratory virus (adenovirus, influenza, metapneumovirus, parainfluenza, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus [RSV], or seasonal coronavirus; 132 swabs and 140 viral targets) on PCR to two commercially available COVID-19 rapid antigen test devices, the Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device and Roche SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Self-Test. In addition, we collected 31 COVID-19 rapid antigen test devices used to test patients who were symptomatic at The Royal Melbourne Hospital emergency department in Melbourne, Australia. We extracted total nucleic acid from the device paper test strips and assessed viral recovery using multiplex real-time PCR (rtPCR) and capture-based whole genome sequencing. Sequence and genome data were analysed through custom computational pipelines, including subtyping. Of the 140 respiratory viral targets from archival samples, 89 (64%) and 88 (63%) were positive on rtPCR for the relevant taxa following extraction from Panbio or Roche rapid antigen test devices, respectively. Recovery was variable across taxa: we detected influenza A in nine of 18 samples from Panbio and seven of 18 from Roche devices; parainfluenza in 11 of 20 samples from Panbio and 12 of 20 from Roche devices; human metapneumovirus in 11 of 16 from Panbio and 14 of 16 from Roche devices; seasonal coronavirus in eight of 19 from Panbio and two of19from Roche devices; rhinovirus in 24 of 28 from Panbio and 27 of 28 from Roche devices; influenza B in fourof 15 in both devices; and RSV in 16 of 18 in both devices. Of the 31 COVID-19 devices collected from The Royal Melbourne Hospital emergency department, 11 tested positive for a respiratory virus on rtPCR, including one device positive for influenza A virus, one positive for RSV, four positive for rhinovirus, and five positive for SARS-CoV-2. Sequences of target respiratory viruses from archival samples were detected in 55 (98·2%) of 56samples from Panbio and 48 (85·7%) of 56 from Roche rapid antigen test devices. 98 (87·5%) of 112 viral genomes were completely assembled from these data, enabling subtyping for RSV and influenza viruses. All 11samples collected from the emergency department had viral sequences detected, with near-complete genomes assembled for influenza A and RSV. Non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viruses can be detected and sequenced from COVID-19 rapid antigen devices. Recovery of near full-length viral sequences from these devices provides a valuable opportunity to expand genomic surveillance programmes for public health monitoring of circulating respiratory viruses. Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.