Program of meetings

25. The Cabinet generally meets weekly in the Cabinet Room at Parliament House, Canberra. Meeting may be held at other times and places at the discretion of the Prime Minister.
26. Committees generally meet monthly with additional meetings called as needed. For example, the Expenditure Review Committee of the Cabinet (ERC) will meet more frequently during the annual Budget and Mid‑Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) processes, and the National Security Committee of the Cabinet (NSC) may meet more frequently in response to emerging domestic or international events.

Acknowledgement of Country

27. All Cabinet and committee meetings commence with an Acknowledgement of Country.

Declaration of Private Interests

28. In addition to their obligations to declare conflicts of interest under the Code of Conduct for Ministers, Ministers (including assistant ministers) attending Cabinet or Cabinet Committee meetings must, in relation to the matters under discussion, declare any private interests which will or could give rise to a conflict with their public duties. Generally, declarations should be made in all cases where an interest exists which could not be said to be shared with the rest of the community.
29. Officials attending committee meetings must declare any private interests they are aware of in relation to the matters under discussion.
30. Declarations of private interest from ministers and officials are minuted by the Cabinet notetakers.
31. The handling of any specific conflict of interest is a matter for the chair. Where a conflict of interest is declared, the chair may ask the minister to withdraw from discussion and decision-making on that item.

Chairing arrangements and attendance of ministers

32. Ministers must prioritise attendance at Cabinet and committee meetings, except when attending the Federal Executive Council. In-person attendance is expected unless the Cabinet Secretary has agreed to other arrangements.
33. If the Prime Minister is unable to attend Cabinet, the next most senior minister takes the chair. The same principle applies to committees if the chair or deputy chair are absent.
34. There is no quorum for Cabinet or committee meetings. The chair may decide whether a meeting proceeds, based on the importance of listed items, the ministers present and the prudence of taking decisions at that meeting.
35. When the Parliament is sitting, ministers should ensure that routine business does not prevent their attendance at Cabinet or committee meetings. Ministers should make appropriate ‘pairing’ arrangements and organise for their chamber duty to be performed by other ministers if the timing conflicts with scheduled Cabinet or committee meetings.
36. When ministers are overseas or on leave, the Prime Minister will nominate another minister to exercise their full authority. Where the nominated minister is a Cabinet minister, this authority extends to matters under Cabinet consideration. If an acting portfolio minister is not in the Cabinet, they do not represent the portfolio in the Cabinet or any committees unless expressly agreed by the Prime Minister.
37. Ministers should advise the Cabinet Secretary, in writing, of any planned absence from Cabinet or committee meetings. Where a minister is absent, they generally cannot delegate their Cabinet or committee attendance to another minister.

Co-options

38. The Prime Minister or the Cabinet Secretary may co-opt a non-Cabinet minister to a meeting for discussions relevant to their portfolio area. Co-opted ministers have access to relevant Cabinet papers and attend the meeting for the relevant item.
39. The Prime Minister or Cabinet Secretary may co-opt all members of the outer ministry or all members of the outer ministry and assistant ministers to a meeting of the Cabinet. Such meetings are referred to as (Full) Ministry Cabinet meetings, or (Full) Ministry meetings for short. Such meetings are a meeting of the Cabinet and subject to the matters set out in this Handbook.
40. All non-Cabinet ministers or assistant ministers who are co-opted to a Cabinet or Ministry Cabinet meeting are subject to the Cabinet conventions and principles set out in this Handbook.

Cabinet notetakers

41. Cabinet notetakers attend Cabinet and committee discussions. Only Cabinet notetakers and the Cabinet Secretary may take notes of Cabinet and committee discussions and decisions.
42. Cabinet notetakers, who are typically senior officials from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, draft the Cabinet minute for the Cabinet Secretary’s approval.
43. The Prime Minister (or committee chair) may ask notetakers to leave meetings when ministers wish to conduct private discussions.
44. Cabinet notetakers record discussions in official Cabinet Notebooks, issued by Cabinet Division. Cabinet notebooks are protected from early release under the Archives Act 1983 and may not be sought under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
45. Ministers may request that a comment or discussion not be recorded by a notetaker when it is not relevant to policy discussion.

Attendance of ministerial staff and officials

46. The Prime Minister, or the Cabinet Secretary, may approve attendance by senior officials and ministerial staff at Cabinet meetings. Attendance is strictly limited and must be approved in advance. Consideration of requests will be on a case-by-case basis.
47. The usual practice is that only Cabinet notetakers attend meetings of the Cabinet; ministerial staff and officials do not generally attend Cabinet meetings.
48. The Prime Minister or Cabinet Secretary may approve attendance at committee meetings by ministerial staff and officials to provide subject matter expertise, where needed.
49. Ministerial staff and officials attending Cabinet or committee meetings are subject to the same confidentiality and declaration of private interests disclosure requirements as ministers; attendees must also comply with the relevant codes of conduct applicable to their employment (Ministerial Staff Code of Conduct or APS Code of Conduct).