The Quality Improvement Plan is two things in one document: an honest look at how the service is going against each quality area, and the improvements the service is working towards. It is kept on site, made available to the regulatory authority and to families, and it carries the service philosophy.
Regulation 55 says the plan must be in place within three months of a service's approval and kept current. Regulation 56 says to review and revise it at least annually, having regard to the National Quality Standard. Read the wording at the source rather than a summary.
The QIP is strongest when it is a record of real work, not a document written the week before a visit. The educational leader feeds it by keeping critical reflection moving and by noticing where practice is genuinely developing. An improvement in the QIP should trace back to something the team actually did.
A living QIP changes as the year goes. It captures the voices of educators and families, and it is honest about what is still working towards, not finished. A plan that only appears at assessment time is doing the paperwork, not the improvement.
A leader stops treating the QIP as a once-a-year document and starts adding a line whenever a real improvement begins: a room trialling a new approach, a team conversation that shifted practice. By the annual review there is nothing to invent, because the plan already holds the year.
Yes. Regulation 55 requires an approved service to have a current Quality Improvement Plan within three months of approval, kept on site and available to the regulatory authority and to families.
At least once a year under Regulation 56, having regard to the National Quality Standard, informed by an honest self-assessment.
The QIP belongs to the service, not one person. The educational leader contributes the critical reflection and the practice improvements that much of the plan draws on.
Written by the Ask ECE editorial team and checked against ACECQA guidance and the Education and Care Services National Regulations. Last reviewed September 2026. Ask ECE links to the source and does not reproduce it.