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A guide for policy advisors on good community engagement practice, including at each level of the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation.

Introduction 1The New Zealand Labour Party and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have signed a cooperation agreement.  This circular sets out the next steps in the transition to a new administration. Appointment of the new ministry...

Introduction 1This circular provides practical guidance for Ministers[1] and departments on implementing the cooperation agreement between the Labour Party and the Green Party entered into when the government was formed following the 2020 general...

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....

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...

Summary of Key Points Cabinet has agreed to adopt a policy framework for regulating occupations. A copy of the framework is attached to this circular. All departments and agencies should follow the principles contained in the framework when...

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...

A tool to help policy advisors identify the level on the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation most appropriate for a specific policy project. The final two pages of the design tool are editable and can be used by policy teams to help design their...

Resources to help policy advisors choose the right engagement methods to support good engagement planning. Please download the PDF and open it from your computer before using and printing, as it contains pages in both A4 and A3 that may not print...

The Terrorist and National Security Event Media Protocols are designed to assist during terrorist or national security events within New Zealand, or in a significant terrorist event overseas involving New Zealanders. The primary goal of government...

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”...

This is one of a suite of Long-term Insights Briefings guidance resources. It sets out the requirements on departmental chief executives to develop a Long-term Insights Briefing (Briefing) and recommendations for how these Briefings should best be...

This is one of a suite of guidance resource on Long-term Insights Briefings (Briefings). It provides guidance to support agencies in undertaking the necessary activities that form each of the eight steps in the development process for a Briefing, and...

This is one of a suite of guidance resource on Long-term Insights Briefings (Briefings). The Checklist provides a list of questions based on good practice that can be considered during each step of the development process for a Briefing. It sets out...

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...

The Cabinet paper workflow begins with the agency or Minister’s office uploading the final draft of a paper once a Minister has approved it. All Cabinet and Cabinet committee papers with a security classification of In Confidence, Sensitive or...

Access to papers and minutes within CabNet will persist for Ministers that have access at the time that the paper was lodged and considered for as long as they continue to be a Minister. Access to CabNet will cease when a Minister leaves office....

The Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) provides for information to be protected to the extent consistent with the public interest and the preservation of personal privacy. “Cabinet material” includes Cabinet and Cabinet committee agendas, papers, and...

This is one of a suite of guidance resource on Long-term Insights Briefings (Briefings). It sets out the process and indicative timeframe for departments to follow in developing a Briefing. There are eight high-level steps in the development process and...

Introduction 1The Legislation Guidelines (2021 edition) are the government's key point of reference for assessing whether draft legislation conforms to accepted legal and constitutional principles. 2The Legislation Guidelines set out guidance on...

A guide for government agencies and policy advisors on inclusive community engagement in policy making.

Documents prepared for uploading to CabNet need to be formatted to ensure that they will display correctly for electronic access and viewing. The types of documents that should be uploaded into CabNet are as follows: papers – upload...