Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office is responsible for the routine administration of Cabinet matters and acts in accordance with established policies and procedures. Cabinet meets almost weekly throughout the year and the Cabinet Office adheres to a strict timetable of activity in preparation for each meeting. The Cabinet Office has a responsibility to ensure, as far as possible, that submissions meet the minimum quality standards set out in this handbook and to provide support on all aspects of Cabinet processes to Ministers, ministerial offices, and agencies on administration matters.

The key objectives of the Cabinet Office are:

• Providing information and advice to agencies on Cabinet processes and procedures
• Ensuring the appropriate safekeeping and archiving of Cabinet records
• Providing administrative support for constitutional matters including the appointments of; Ministers, Supreme Court Judges, Vice Regal Appointments, Prorogation of Parliament, Dissolution of the House of Assembly and Recall of Parliament

The Tasmanian Government Cabinet Handbook

The Cabinet Handbook outlines the procedures, conventions and expectations that support the effective operation of the Cabinet and its support processes. It is produced for anyone who is involved in the development of and Cabinet documentation and processes supporting Cabinet business. The handbook is designed to ensure the efficient, effective, professional, and timely presentation of matters for consideration by Cabinet. For good governance, adherence to the procedures is essential.

The Cabinet Handbook has had several minor updates to accommodate changed nomenclature, removed repetitiveness, more modern language and to remove unnecessary specificity regarding gender.

There are a number of process changes that will have an immediate impact on the development and preparation of Cabinet matters, as outlined below:

1. Cabinet Minutes - All Cabinet Minutes should be lodged with the Cabinet Office, following signing by the sponsoring Minister(s), at least ten working days prior to the date on which they are to be considered by Cabinet.
2. Cabinet Briefings - All Cabinet Briefings should be lodged with the Cabinet Office, following signing by the sponsoring Minister(s), at least five days prior to the date on which they are to be considered by Cabinet. This includes appointment Briefs and final bill Briefs.
3. New Cabinet Legislative Minute process - Legislative Minutes are used to assist with the approval and drafting of Legislation and process Cabinet with the opportunity to collectively agree on Legislation priority. This process removes the regular bid rounds and provides for Departments to work with their relevant portfolio Ministers to bring on proposals for Bills as and when required.
4. Requests for Late Lodgement or ‘Under the Line’ Requests - The changes to the Cabinet Handbook introduce a standardised process for requesting late lodgement.

Requests for late submission, either within ten working days for Minutes or five days for Briefings, must be approved by the Premier (or their delegate) in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary, through the Request for Late Lodgement form.

Where a critical or unforeseen circumstance has arisen requiring a matter to be lodged with Cabinet Office late, agencies, through their ministerial offices, must seek permission in writing.  For the matter to proceed, The Request for Late Lodgement form must be sent to Cabinet Office who will arrange for the Secretary to review and consider the application.

The request for late lodgement must be provided to Cabinet Office and include:

• The title and purpose of the Cabinet matter
• The reason for late lodgement
• Any consultation that has occurred (both formal and informal) given that late lodgement could impact the ability to circulate the submission for formal comment
• The impacts on the outcome of the proposal if the matter is not considered at the earliest date, and
• A contact officer.

Cabinet Office should be advised as soon as it is known that Cabinet may need to consider an issue under the line, and that an application for late lodgement is forthcoming.

For more information on the changes to the Cabinet Handbook please refer to the Information Sheet or download a copy of the updated Cabinet Handbook

Cabinet Handbook examples and templates

A set of examples and templates have been produced to show the correct style and assist with the preparation of Cabinet documents.

View the Cabinet Handbook examples and templates

Further information