Australia’s largest rollout of humanoid companion robots lands in aged care

A Victorian provider has quietly completed what may be the country’s most ambitious deployment of companion robotics in residential care, with 22 humanoid “Abi” robots now operating across every mecwacare home.

The rollout, delivered in partnership with Andromeda Robotics, is already supporting more than 1,500 residents and reflects a growing shift toward technology designed to address something the sector still struggles to solve consistently: loneliness.

Developed alongside clinical and lifestyle teams since early 2025, Abi has been tailored for aged care environments, with a particular focus on residents living with dementia and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The robot can communicate in up to 90 languages, recall past interactions, and engage residents through conversation, music and storytelling.

It is not being positioned as a replacement for care. But it is being framed as a response to a system under pressure. Workforce shortages, rising dementia rates and increasing expectations around quality of life are forcing providers to look beyond traditional models.

That tension is already visible in the data. Internal research from Andromeda suggests 74 per cent of staff have observed reduced agitation among residents interacting with Abi, with overall satisfaction rated at 9 out of 10. Staff also reported strong links between the level of companionship provided and their confidence in the robot’s role within the care environment.

For mecwacare, the integration has been less about novelty and more about practical impact.

Chief executive Anne McCormack said residents have begun to treat Abi as part of the “circle of care”, with staff informally referring to the robot as a “Happiness Assistant”.

“She’s lifting moods, reducing physical, social and linguistic isolation, encouraging connection and helping people express themselves in ways that feel natural and comfortable,” she said.

The experience on the floor appears to support that. One resident described Abi’s visits as “the best part of my day”, responding to music and interaction despite being largely bed-bound.

Abi’s design reflects that intent. Features include dementia-friendly communication, eye-level engagement, improved audio for older hearing profiles and LiDAR-based navigation that allows the robot to move more naturally through shared spaces.

The broader ambition is harder to ignore. Andromeda has publicly set a goal of replacing one billion hours of loneliness with “meaningful connection”. It is a bold claim, and one that sits somewhere between aspiration and marketing.

But the direction of travel is clearer. As providers face mounting pressure to deliver not just care, but experience, tools that can extend connection, even imperfectly, are starting to move from pilot to practice.

Whether that translates into long-term value will depend less on the technology itself and more on how it is integrated into daily care. For now, mecwacare’s rollout suggests the sector is at least willing to test where that boundary sits.