Cabinet Handbook - The Department of the Prime Minister and ...

11. Ministers of State including Cabinet members, other ministers and parliamentary secretaries
(‘the Ministry’) form the Federal Executive Council—the body which formally advises the
Governor-General on the administration of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Principles of Cabinet Government
Guiding principles
12. A Westminster-style Cabinet is defined by adherence to the principles of collective responsibility
and Cabinet solidarity. These principles are the binding devices that ensure the unity of purpose of the
Government. They underpin the formulation of consistent policy advice and the exercise of collective
accountability.
Collective decision-making and responsibility
13. The Cabinet system of government is founded on the principle of collective responsibility. It
reflects democratic principle: the Parliament expresses its confidence in the collective whole-ofgovernment
rather than in individual ministers. Similarly, the Governor-General, in acting on ministerial
advice, needs to be confident that individual ministers represent official government policy. In all areas
of their work, therefore, ministers represent and implement government policy—policy which has often
been considered and set by the Cabinet process.
14. In practice this means that a decision of the Cabinet is binding on all members of the
Government, regardless of whether they were present when the decision was taken or their personal
views. Issues may, and should, be debated vigorously within the confidential setting of the Cabinet
meetings. The aim is to reach some form of consensus so that the Prime Minister, as Chair of the
Cabinet, can summarise what the collective decision is for recording in the Cabinet minute.
15. All members of the Ministry are understood to have participated in the decision-making process
which underpins government policy, and therefore share responsibility for those policies.
Cabinet solidarity
16. Cabinet collective responsibility is most obviously expressed in the principle of Cabinet solidarity.
In governments using the Westminster system, members of the Cabinet must publicly support all
government decisions made in Cabinet, even if they do not agree with them. Cabinet ministers cannot
dissociate themselves from, or repudiate the decisions of their Cabinet colleagues unless they resign
from the Cabinet. It is the Prime Minister’s role as Chair of the Cabinet, where necessary, to enforce
Cabinet solidarity.
Operational principles
17. The proper implementation of these two guiding principles is entirely dependent on a
commitment to three important operational values: consultation, confidentiality and respect for Cabinet
authority.
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