A Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) is required by regulation 55: within 3 months of the service approval being granted, the approved provider must have a plan that (a) assesses the quality of the service’s practices against the National Quality Standard and the Regulations, (b) identifies the areas the provider considers may require improvement, and (c) contains a statement of the service’s philosophy. It must be reviewed and revised at least annually and whenever the regulatory authority directs (regulation 56), kept available at the service (regulation 31 condition) and submitted on request (penalty $3,300). No format is prescribed. ACECQA’s template is optional; the structure below covers everything regulation 55 requires and everything an authorised officer looks for, and you can copy it straight into a document.
This is a free QIP structure with the fields explained, a worked example row for each type of goal, and the mistakes that lead officers to discount a QIP. For the regulatory background and how officers use the QIP during assessment and rating, see the QIP guide. For a finished, editable Word pack with worked rows for all 40 elements, see the QIP Template Pack.
Officers read this page first and reconcile it with the national registers and the approval. Keep it current.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Service name and approval number | Exactly as on the service approval (SE-number) |
| Approved provider and approval number | Legal entity name and PR-number |
| Service address and contact details | Premises address, phone, email |
| Nominated supervisor | Name; the person(s) notified under section 56 |
| Educational leader | Name and qualification (regulation 118) |
| Service type and approved places | Centre-based or family day care; approved places by age group if applicable |
| Operating hours | Days and hours, including any seasonal variation |
| Current rating | Overall and by quality area, with the date; Provisional if not yet assessed |
| Additional information | Anything that shapes how the NQS is applied: a shared school site, a culturally specific program, an integrated service, a recent change of ownership |
| Date of this version and date of last review | Shows the regulation 56 cycle at a glance |
Required by regulation 55(1)(c). Half a page to a page. It should say what the service believes about children, learning, families and its community, and officers will test whether what they see on the day matches it. A philosophy written in the service’s own words and dated, with a note of who was consulted (educators, families, children) and when it was last reviewed, carries more weight than a polished statement that could belong to any service. Link it to the EYLF or the framework you use and to the learning outcomes where the connection is real.
One section for each of the seven quality areas. Each section has the same three parts.
For each standard (or element where it helps), a short paragraph of evidence, not adjectives. “Educators are passionate about children’s learning” is not evidence. “Each room’s program displays the current cycle with observations, analysis, planning and evaluation for each child; the educational leader meets each room team fortnightly and the meeting notes record the changes made” is evidence an officer can go and check. For a service seeking Exceeding, organise strengths under the three themes: embedded practice, critical reflection, and meaningful engagement with families and community.
The table that does the work. Copy this structure for every quality area.
| Standard / element | Issue identified | Goal or outcome sought | Priority (H/M/L) | Steps | Success measure | By when | Progress notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1.1 | Sleep checks recorded on paper inconsistently; two rooms use different intervals | Every sleeping child checked and recorded at the interval set by the regulation 84B policy, in every room | H | Rewrite sleep and rest policy against r 84B(e); set one interval; move to the digital check record; train all educators; room leaders audit weekly | Four consecutive weekly audits with 100% of checks recorded; r 84C risk assessment reviewed and signed | 31 Jan 2027 | Policy redrafted 12 Nov; training 20 Nov; audits from 24 Nov |
| 7.1.2 | No schedule for the risk assessments the Regulations require; emergency risk assessment last reviewed 19 months ago | Every regulated risk assessment current and on a review calendar | H | List the six regulated assessments; set review dates; assign owners; review emergency assessment with the fire service | Calendar in place; all six assessments dated within their review period | 15 Dec 2026 | |
| 1.3.1 | Planning cycle evident for groups but not for individual children in the toddler room | Each child’s learning documented through the full cycle at least monthly | M | Educational leader models the cycle with the toddler team; fortnightly review of a sample of children’s records; family input prompts added | Sample of 10 records shows all five cycle stages for each child in the previous month | 30 Mar 2027 | |
| 6.1.2 | Families report (survey Sept 2026) they do not know how to raise concerns | Every family knows the complaints process and uses it | M | Rewrite the r 168(2)(o) complaints procedure in plain language; display it; add it to enrolment and the app; track complaints received | Survey repeat shows 90% awareness; complaints register in use | 30 Jun 2027 |
Two or three sentences: where the service judges itself against the standards in this area, and what has changed since the last review. Officers compare this to their own observations and to the summary in the previous QIP if they have it.
| Review date | Who took part | What changed | Next review due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Educators, educational leader, nominated supervisor, families (how), children (how) | Goals closed, goals added, philosophy revised, strengths updated | Not more than 12 months later (regulation 56) |
Each quality area page lists the standards and elements with the regulations that sit behind them, which is the fastest way to anchor a goal to both.
The WIDEN Law QIP builder holds this structure as a live document: mark each of the 40 elements Met or Not met with the evidence, write strengths per standard, add goals anchored to an element with progress notes, record the regulation 56 review (which also sets the date in your compliance calendar), and export the ACECQA-style document. Free accounts get the full self-assessment and up to 3 goals; the trial and the Centre and Group plans have no limit.
Open the QIP builder →The QIP Template Pack is an editable Word document, 20 to 30 pages, with this structure built out for all 7 quality areas and 40 elements, a philosophy statement template, worked example rows, a critical reflection sheet and an annual review schedule.
See the QIP Template Pack →No. Regulation 55 prescribes the content of a Quality Improvement Plan (an assessment of practice against the NQS and the Regulations, the areas identified for improvement, and a statement of philosophy), not its format. ACECQA’s template is one acceptable format; a service may use its own document, the structure on this page, or compliance software, as long as the regulation 55 content is there and the plan is kept current and available.
Within 3 months of the grant of the service approval (regulation 55(1)). The plan must then be reviewed and revised at least annually and whenever the regulatory authority directs (regulation 56), kept available at the service under the regulation 31 condition, and submitted on request. The penalty for failing to prepare one is $3,300 and a compliance direction may be issued.
Regulation 55(1) requires three things: an assessment by the provider of the quality of the service’s practices against the National Quality Standard and the Regulations; identification of the areas the provider considers may require improvement; and a statement of the philosophy of the service. Everything else in a QIP template (goals, priorities, measures, timelines, progress notes) is how services make the first two useful and demonstrable.
As long as its evidence requires and no longer. Officers read for specific strengths and dated, measurable goals, not volume. A QIP that covers every element with two generic sentences is weaker than one that covers each quality area honestly and tracks six real goals with progress notes. Many strong QIPs are 15 to 30 pages.
No. Regulation 55 requires the areas the provider considers may require improvement, which assumes selection. Services rated Working Towards should have a goal for each element not met. Services at Meeting or Exceeding typically carry four to eight live goals, with closed goals recorded as strengths.
The regulatory authority, on request and during assessment and rating, where it is usually requested before the visit and used to plan the officer’s observations. It is not published. Families and educators should have access to it, and evidence of their involvement in setting and reviewing goals supports Quality Areas 6 and 7.
At least annually and at any time the regulatory authority directs, under regulation 56(1), having regard to the National Quality Standard. Good practice is a rolling review: goals updated as progress notes are written and a formal whole-document review with educators and families once a year, dated in the review record.
Upload the document and get a gap analysis cross-referenced to the NQS elements and the Regulations, with inline citations, before an officer reads it.
14-day free trial, no card →This page is a research summary, not legal or compliance advice. Element and regulation wording is reproduced from the current reprint of the National Regulations; confirm the position with your regulatory authority before relying on it for a compliance decision.