What is a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP)?
A QIP is a self-assessment document that child care services in Perth must maintain, identifying their current performance against the National Quality Standard and setting out planned improvements.
A Quality Improvement Plan is a document that child care services in Perth are required to develop and maintain as part of their accountability to the National Quality Framework. The QIP functions as the service's own assessment of where they stand across the seven quality areas of the National Quality Standard (NQS), which cover educational program and practice, children's physical health and safety, children's wellbeing and engagement, staffing arrangements, relationships with families and communities, leadership and service management, and governance and administration.
Services create a QIP by identifying what they are doing well in each area and what they need to work on. This is not a compliance checklist but a genuine reflection of the service's current performance against the NQS. The document typically records the service's priority improvement areas, the actions they plan to take, timelines for those actions, and responsible staff members. A QIP is usually developed during the service's self-assessment process, often led by an educational leader or coordinator, and may be reviewed after external assessment visits by the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).
The QIP matters because it keeps services focused on continuous improvement and helps staff, management, and families understand what the service is working toward. It also creates a shared plan rather than isolated efforts, making improvement more sustainable and transparent. When looking for providers in Perth Metropolitan, understanding that a service maintains an active, honest QIP is a sign they are taking quality and accountability seriously.