Australian Catholic University (ACU) and Skybox Health today announce Australia’s first commercially available academic electronic medical record and simulation platform, Skybox EMR, designed to support healthcare education at scale. Developed through close collaboration between academics, practitioners, digital health specialists, and experienced software and game designers, Skybox EMR is a ground-breaking simulation environment with user experience at its core.

ACU will introduce Skybox into its health curricula in Semester 1 2026, marking a significant step forward in preparing students for contemporary, digitally enabled, healthcare practice.

The rollout will see Skybox EMR used by more than 5,500 undergraduate nursing and allied health students and 50 educators across 2026, providing early and structured exposure to electronic medical record (EMR) systems as a core professional capability. The implementation builds on the recently announced ACU–Skybox partnership, which focuses on strengthening digital health education and workforce readiness.

Skybox EMR has been developed to address a growing gap between university health education, and healthcare practice and digital systems in clinical environments. With accreditation standards increasingly emphasising digital health competencies, the platform supports the teaching of best-practice clinical documentation, critical thinking and decision-making, information management, and authentic EMR workflows in a safe, educational setting before students enter placement.

“For our students and educators to have access to a simulated EMR designed for the Australian education context, and that reflects Australian healthcare systems and workflows is truly fantastic,” said Professor Stephen Guinea, Associate Dean of Learning, Teaching and Professional Experience for the Faculty of Health Sciences at ACU. “Bringing this level of authenticity to the Australian and New Zealand health professional education community opens up powerful new opportunities not just for learning and teaching, but for collaborative research as well.”

Associate Professor Melanie Barlow, Academic Lead for the faculty’s specialised learning environments says, “a key point of difference for SkyBox EMR is the comprehensive support educators receive. Integrating EMR into curriculum can be challenging, and building staff confidence is essential. This is where a locally developed product, backed by an on-the-ground support team, really shines, offering tailored guidance that empowers educators to implement EMR learning throughout the curriculum.”

Skybox Co-Founder Pip Gent said the launch represents a milestone in academic digital health education. “Skybox EMR was designed in close collaboration with educators to align with how universities teach, not to retrofit clinical systems for education. This launch demonstrates how digital health integration can be implemented progressively and authentically across a health curriculum, ensuring successful tech adoption.”

Developed specifically for the Australian higher education sector, Skybox EMR uses Australian clinical datasets and has been designed to align with operational, governance, and data stewardship expectations of Australian universities. The platform supports curriculum-wide integration, from early skills-based learning through to complex, real-time unfolding interprofessional simulation activities.

“Skybox EMR is a next-generation academic EMR, designed to bridge clinical systems and healthcare education at scale,” said Skybox Co-Founder Rhiannon Phillips. “It is intended to be used by students throughout their education, building confidence and familiarity with clinical systems over time, rather than as an occasional touchpoint in simulation labs or clinical placements. We welcome interest from institutions looking to license the platform and explore its integration into their curriculum or research activities.”

The Semester 1 launch represents the first phase of Skybox EMR deployment at ACU, with future expansion planned across additional cohorts, disciplines, and advanced learning activities.

About Skybox Health

Skybox Health is an Australian EdTech established to address digital health training requirements in the health education sector.

Founded by industry leaders, Skybox Health unites expertise in software development and healthcare education to embed digital health transformation into healthcare education.

With a commitment to co-design, we collaborate with clinicians, health science academics, and industry leaders to create academic software that is both reflective of healthcare workflows and aligned with curriculum delivery—bridging the technology gap between real-world clinical practice and health education.

Skybox leverages collective expertise of partners to stay ahead of trends, and contribute to the advancement of EMR education, clinical practice and patient outcomes.

Skybox Health gratefully acknowledges support from the Queensland Government through the Ignite Spark grant.

About Australian Catholic University

An ACU education is grounded in the Catholic understanding of faith and reason working together in the pursuit of knowledge, promotion of human dignity, and advancement of the common good.

ACU aims to transform lives and communities. Students are challenged to look beyond the classroom, solve real-world problems, develop their own search for meaning and cultivate strong professional ethics. They are invited to stand up for people in need and causes that matter.

Staff and students are committed to improving the lives of others by providing world-leading health care. High-impact research – with social, cultural and economic benefits – is core to our institution.

In the Faculty of Health Sciences, we are guided by evidence and the values of excellence, dignity and engagement. ACU graduates are equipped not only with the knowledge and skills to provide outstanding care, but also the compassion and empathy to provide care that people remember.

For more information about ACU: https://www.acu.edu.au/about-acu/faculties-directorates-and-staff/faculty-of-health-sciences