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

Ministerial responsibility for proposals
50. Submissions coming before the Cabinet and Cabinet committees must have a sponsoring minister,
usually the Cabinet minister with portfolio responsibility. Ministers are expected to take full
responsibility for the proposals they bring forward, even where detailed development or drafting may
have been done on their behalf by officials.
51. Non-Cabinet ministers can bring forward submissions in their areas of responsibility with the
agreement of the senior portfolio minister.
52. Proposals may be sponsored by more than one minister, provided the ministers are from different
portfolios. Major and sensitive proposals which have a significant service delivery component must be
brought forward jointly with the minister or ministers responsible for the delivery of the proposal (see
Annex D – Preparing a submission to the Cabinet).
53. Where many ministers have an interest, it is generally preferable for responsibility to be allocated
to one or two key ministers and for the other ministers to be thoroughly consulted during the
preparation of the submission.
Cabinet minutes
54. The Cabinet Secretariat produces minutes of decisions as soon as possible after each Cabinet or
Cabinet committee meeting, recording the decision in a form that enables the necessary action to be
taken. The Cabinet minutes do not record the detail of discussions at the meeting. The Cabinet minutes
are issued to ministers and relevant departments and agencies once they have been approved by the
Cabinet Secretary or Committee Secretary.
55. Cabinet and Cabinet committee minutes are circulated to all Cabinet ministers and any non-
Cabinet ministers co-opted for a meeting or having a portfolio interest in the matter.
56. Some Cabinet committee minutes will be given a limited circulation. The ERC minutes recording
Budget decisions are circulated to ERC ministers and the relevant portfolio minister only, but are
circulated to the Cabinet ministers in the Cabinet room prior to Budget Cabinet.
57. Cabinet committee minutes that require endorsement by the Cabinet are marked accordingly.
When they have been endorsed by the Cabinet, a superseding minute is issued.
58. If ministers have concerns about the accuracy of minutes as circulated, they should draw their
concerns to the Cabinet Secretary’s attention in writing, as soon as possible.
59. If ministers consider that any minutes are essential for their department’s operations, they may
make a request to make the minutes available to their departmental secretary for information and any
necessary action.
60. If a Cabinet minute requires action in several portfolios, and if the Cabinet does not direct
otherwise, it is for the minister who raised the matter in Cabinet to initiate follow-up procedures
(usually by letter to other ministers involved in implementing the decision).
61. Where the Federal Executive Council’s approval is required, action on Cabinet minutes must be
held over until that approval has been obtained.
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