In Australia’s changing aged-care landscape, providers face growing pressure to meet the Aged Care Quality Standards and the Mandatory Quality Indicator (QI) Program. As the new Strengthened Quality Standards take effect under the Aged Care Act 2024, the systems and technologies used in facilities must evolve to support these expectations.
Among the most critical of these technologies is the nurse call system - the frontline tool that connects residents to care staff when help is needed.
Xacom’s new Nurse Call System has been designed from the ground up to meet these emerging compliance demands. Built for reliability, reporting, and auditability, it helps aged-care providers align with regulatory frameworks while improving staff responsiveness and resident safety.
1. Why compliance matters now
The evolving regulatory landscape
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) defines what “good care” looks like under the national Quality Standards.
These include resident dignity, governance, clinical care, and service environment. You can read the full standards on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission website.
A new version (known as the Strengthened Quality Standards) will come into effect from 1 November 2025 as part of the new Aged Care Act 2024. This updated framework places a stronger emphasis on clinical governance, incident response, workforce accountability, and data-driven quality improvement. Learn more on the ACQSC Strengthened Standards page.
In parallel, providers must comply with the National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program (QI Program), which measures and reports outcomes such as:
- Falls and major injury
- Medication management
- Pressure injuries
- Hospitalisation rates
- Consumer experience
In this regulatory environment, a nurse call system must do more than alert staff, it must generate reliable data, support clinical governance, and prove compliance.
2. What makes Xacom’s Nurse Call System “compliance ready”
Xacom’s new Nurse Call platform was designed in consultation with aged-care managers, nurses, and compliance experts. It directly supports facilities preparing for the Strengthened Quality Standards.
Here’s how:
a) Built-in audit trail and reporting
Every alert and response is time-stamped and stored for reporting. This gives management teams real-time visibility of:
- Who responded to each call
- How long it took
- Which areas experience delayed responses
These reports are exportable and can be mapped to key QI indicators like falls, hospitalisation, and consumer experience. This turns compliance reporting from a manual process into a data-driven routine.
b) Integration with existing aged-care systems
Xacom’s system supports open APIs and flexible integrations, allowing facilities to connect nurse call data with incident management, workforce planning, security or resident care systems.
This supports clinical governance under the Strengthened Quality Standards and reduces duplication of effort. It also allows management teams to identify correlations between call frequency, staffing levels, and incident trends - critical for evidence-based continuous improvement.
c) Wireless and retrofit-friendly
Whether upgrading a legacy wired system or fitting out a new facility, Xacom’s platform supports both wired and wireless devices. This enables staged deployment with minimal disruption and ensures every resident area.
For older facilities, this provides an immediate pathway to compliance without the need for complete infrastructure replacement.
d) Smart prioritisation and routing
The system classifies calls by urgency and location, ensuring the most critical alerts are routed to available staff first.
This supports Standard 5 (Clinical Care) and Standard 6 (Feedback and Complaints) of the Quality Standards by improving response speed, resident experience, and incident prevention.
e) Resident dignity and privacy by design
The Quality Standards emphasise dignity and choice. Xacom’s wearable pendants and wall units are designed to be discreet, lightweight, and easy to use so residents can summon help without embarrassment or noise.
Customisable sound profiles and light indicators ensure alerts are effective without disrupting others in the environment.
f) Governance dashboards and analytics
Xacom’s management dashboard provides a complete operational view, showing alarm volumes, peak response times, and trend analysis.
Facility managers can track response-time KPIs, generate monthly compliance summaries, and present real-time metrics in governance or board meetings.
This directly supports the continuous-improvement requirements outlined in the National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program Manual (v4.0) published by the Department of Health and Aged Care.
3. How to evaluate nurse call systems for compliance
If your facility is reviewing or upgrading its nurse call infrastructure, consider these steps:
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Review your current compliance risks
- Audit how long it takes staff to respond to resident calls.
- Check whether your system produces reliable time-stamped data for reporting.
- Identify gaps against the Strengthened Quality Standards.
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Assess vendor transparency
- Does the vendor provide clear documentation, training, and service agreements that meet governance expectations?
- Can they demonstrate data retention, privacy compliance, and cybersecurity readiness?
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Map system features to Quality Indicators
- Falls & major injury → alert escalation and response time
- Hospitalisation → trend data for unattended alarms
- Consumer experience → resident feedback and alert reliability
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Plan for training and change management
Compliance is about behaviour as much as technology. Xacom’s rollout process includes staff training, simulation exercises, and ongoing performance reviews—ensuring adoption is consistent across day, night, and casual teams.
4. The compliance advantage of choosing Xacom
By adopting Xacom’s Nurse Call System, aged-care facilities position themselves to:
- Meet current Quality Standards under the ACQSC framework
- Prepare for 2025’s Strengthened Quality Standards
- Streamline data submission for the QI Program
- Demonstrate continuous improvement to auditors and assessors
- Enhance resident safety and satisfaction
Beyond compliance, Xacom’s platform delivers tangible operational benefits—lower alarm fatigue, improved workflow efficiency, and reduced manual documentation.
5. The road ahead for aged-care technology
With increasing emphasis on accountability, evidence, and transparency, aged-care providers can no longer rely on reactive systems or paper-based processes. The right nurse call solution should function as both a clinical safety tool and a governance platform.
Xacom’s compliance ready Nurse Call System bridges that gap - helping facilities move confidently into the next phase of Australian aged-care reform.
To learn more about how Xacom’s technology can help your facility meet the new Quality Indicators and strengthen your governance systems, visit xacom.com.au or contact our technical team for a consultation.