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This section provides information on the Cabinet process for Ministers' and Parliamentary Under-Secretaries’ overseas travel and Cabinet travel paper requirements. Follow this link for templates for the two kinds of travel papers. Guidelines on...

Information that should be provided to Cabinet or Cabinet committees Where a there is a proposal to become party to a treaty, or to take formal treaty action, the following information needs to be provided to Cabinet or Cabinet committees: the exact...

Preparing Ministers’ papers for a meeting Ministers receive all Cabinet and Cabinet committee items in hard copy from the Cabinet Office. Papers should be prepared for a Minister’s attendance at Cabinet or a Cabinet committee by putting the papers in...

Some items go directly to EC without first being approved by Cabinet. These items are usually drafted in a department, rather than by PCO, and: will not be included in the Legislative Instruments series (but are published in the Gazette in the normal...

EC meetings are held on most Mondays at 4pm in the Executive Council meeting room on level 10 of the Beehive, and are presided over by the Governor-General or, in the Governor-General’s absence overseas, by the Administrator of the Government. From time...

Laws usually come into effect only after their publication (with the exceptions being matters of national security or matters of particular commercial or legal significance where time is an overriding factor). The Parliamentary Counsel Office's (PCO’s)...

The Governor-General has delegated responsibility for the custody of the Seal of New Zealand to the Clerk of the Executive Council. Documents that require the Seal of New Zealand to be affixed to them include: warrants for the appointment of...

Organisation Form (December 2019)docx21.26 KB Refer to these pages for more information Cabinet appointment paper template Appointment paper candidate CV form CabNet: Uploading attachments to Cabinet papers CabNet: How to upload...

All Cabinet material that has been created after 3 August 2015 which is relevant to an individual user in their capacity of supporting a Minister or a Ministerial portfolio will be searchable and viewable in CabNet. Cabinet material that is classified...

This wallchart provides an easy guide to the transmission, handling, storage, and disposal of different classifications of Cabinet material. See the CabGuide for more information on the secure handling of Cabinet material.

When developing policy proposals, consideration must be given to their consistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and the Human Rights Act 1993 (the Acts).  The key aim of these requirements is to ensure Ministers are aware of the...

This page contains templates for the following: general government response paper to the Cabinet Legislation Committee seeking the approval of a government response to a select committee inquiry or petition government response to a Law Commission...

Cabinet papers on proposed overseas travel and reports on overseas travel are submitted directly to Cabinet, but do not require prior approval to go direct to Cabinet as other submissions do.  Below are templates for the two kinds of Cabinet travel...

Email request forms Below is a list of the different forms that Ministers’ offices might need to submit to Cabinet Office on their Minister’s behalf. Ministers’ offices should copy the relevant form into an email, fill it out, and then send it to...

Policy development often involves engagement with citizens and/or interest groups to gather views on issues and options. Any non-government consultation process should be discussed with the Minister’s office before proposals are developed for Cabinet....

  “Advice given to Ministers must be honest, impartial, and include all relevant information. It must also be responsive to the priorities determined by the government of the day. Advice should be free and frank, and acknowledge any key...

Papers seeking agreement to policy/approval for additional resources to implement that policy should be submitted to the Cabinet committee responsible for that area of government activity. The Cabinet committee may refer such papers to the Cabinet ...

Impact analysis, within the context of preparing Cabinet material, is a process of defining the policy or operational problem that needs to be addressed, identifying policy objectives, and the full range of feasible options for addressing that problem....

This section outlines the need for a range of consultation on Cabinet and Cabinet committee papers and the process for consultation, including: the process for departmental consultation, which includes consultation with the Department of the Prime...

Ministers are expected to consult their relevant Ministerial colleagues before submitting Cabinet committee papers that deal with significant or potentially controversial matters, or that affect other Ministers’ portfolio interests. Where there is a...

The following template must be used for all papers requesting a priority in the annual Legislation Programme. The template indicates the headings to be used, and each heading must appear in the paper (write "not applicable" if the heading is not...

What is CabNet CabNet is a secure platform for supporting Cabinet and Cabinet committee processes. It is the workflow system for Cabinet and Cabinet committee meetings, and the central repository of Cabinet papers and minutes of decisions. Cabinet...

Owning Ministers offices, owning agencies and the Cabinet Office jointly manage the progress of a submission through the upload, lodge, consideration and decision-making steps in CabNet. If you are involved in managing a CabNet submission and taking...

Papers seeking approval for treaty actions generally follow the format of standard Cabinet papers. Below is an annotated example of an international treaty action paper. Template for international treaty Cabinet papersdocx23.09 KB [...

Papers that are submitted to Cabinet or committee seeking authorisation for the submission of regulations to the Executive Council must follow the format set out below. Each heading must appear in the paper (write "not applicable" if the heading is not...

Occasionally, a Cabinet committee or a group of Ministers can be given “Power to Act” by Cabinet or the Prime Minister to take final decisions on Cabinet’s behalf. What is Power to Act When Power to Act is exercised, the decision of the Cabinet...

A late Cabinet paper is any paper lodged after 10.00am the Thursday before the meeting. If a Minister needs to submit a paper to Cabinet or a Cabinet committee after the Thursday 10:00am deadline, then the Minister’s office must submit an email to the...

Ministers and departments are unable to access highly classified Cabinet material electronically. Hard copy versions of highly classified Cabinet and Cabinet committee material are delivered to Ministers’ offices by the Cabinet Office, and are...

The Cabinet Office publishes Cabinet material on CabNet when the final version is to be made available to relevant users. A user will be notified of documents that are published. Refer to the section on navigating CabNet to find out more about how to...

An oral item is a verbal update given by a Minister to Cabinet on a matter of particular urgency, sensitivity, or significance, or to a Cabinet committee on a government priority area or work programme. Oral items must not be used to seek decisions on...

CabNet user accounts CabNet is used by government agencies that require access to Cabinet material. CabNet is operated under a devolved accountability and user-administration model - agencies that use CabNet are responsible for administering the...

Cabinet papers and minutes must be proactively released within 30 business days of final decisions being taken by Cabinet, unless there is good reason not to publish all or part of the material, or to delay the release. This policy applies to all...

Key points “Cabinet material” includes Cabinet and Cabinet committee agendas, papers, minutes, and memos. You are responsible for ensuring that the Cabinet material you have access to is handled securely. CabNet is set up to allow “need to know”...

The Cabinet policy paper template is intended as a guide for the preparation of Cabinet policy papers, and outlines the headings and type of information that need to be included in each section. The actual content and structure of a paper should be...

Cabinet paper attachments are usually one of the following: appointments information (Organisation form and Candidate CV form, which should be combined into one document when uploaded into CabNet) additional supporting information that is...

The deadline for lodging Cabinet and Cabinet committee papers is 10:00am on the Thursday before the meeting. If any Cabinet or Cabinet committee papers are unable to be lodged in CabNet or with the Cabinet Office (if papers are highly...