Consultation
18. The principle of collective responsibility can only operate effectively if all members of the Cabinet are well informed and well advised (including by their departmental officials) about the decisions they are being asked to make. Timely and thoughtful consultation is the only way to ensure that there are no surprises and each minister has the opportunity to inform the discussion, bringing to the table his or her portfolio knowledge and political judgement. Good policy requires informed decisions.
19. Ministers bringing forward submissions are responsible for ensuring that the consultation necessary to enable a fully informed discussion occurs at both ministerial and official levels. This includes adhering to processes and timeframes for circulation of submissions. One objective of consultation in the development of proposals is to ensure that, as far as possible, differences between ministers are resolved in advance of the Cabinet’s consideration or, if resolution is not possible, differences are identified and set out in such a way as to facilitate informed decision-making.
20. Further, the Government is committed to:
- early, meaningful consultation with the National Indigenous Australians Agency to:
- give genuine consideration to the impact of proposals on Indigenous Australians, early in the policy development process
- ensure new policy proposals are developed in line with the Government's commitments in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, and
- align with and advance the Closing the Gap Priority Reform and socioeconomic outcomes and targets as appropriate; and
- elevating consideration of gender equality in policy design and decision making. Early consultation with the Office for Women in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) will ensure the gender equality outcomes of policy decisions can be strengthened in order to create shared accountability and transparency in decision making.
Confidentiality
21. The principle of collective responsibility requires that ministers should be able to express their views frankly in Cabinet meetings in the expectation that they can argue freely in private while maintaining a united front in public when decisions have been reached. This in turn requires that opinions expressed in the Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, including in documents and any correspondence, are treated as confidential.
22. All attendees are responsible for ensuring that discussions at Cabinet and Cabinet Committee meetings remain confidential. Ministers and officials should not disclose proposals likely to be considered at forthcoming meetings outside Cabinet‐approved consultation procedures. Nor should they disclose the nature or content of the discussions or the views of individual ministers or officials expressed at the meeting itself. The detail of discussion at Cabinet and Cabinet Committee meetings is not recorded in the Cabinet minutes (see Annex F – Decisions of the Cabinet).
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