Consultation

121. Consultation is fundamental to good policy development. It ensures that relevant factors are taken into account, implementation issues are identified and areas of dispute are resolved, where possible, in advance of Cabinet consideration. In doing so, consideration should be given to the need to balance the benefits of consultation with the need for confidentiality about Cabinet deliberations to uphold collective responsibility and Cabinet solidarity.
122. To the extent possible, ministers and departments should commence consultation in advance of a submission being formally lodged. Circulation of pre‑Exposure Drafts is an effective way to obtain early feedback on proposals. Pre‑Exposure Drafts can be circulated multiple times to resolve issues.
123. Sponsoring ministers must obtain agreement from relevant ministers on all factual matters, including costs, before putting an item to Cabinet.
124. Ministers must ensure that as part of mandatory consultation of the impact of proposals on priority policy areas be assessed before a submission is considered by Cabinet. Specific requirements include:
     1. Early consultation with the Department of the Treasury or the Department of Finance, ideally prior to the Exposure Draft stage, where proposals have revenue or expenditure implications.
     2. Departments are responsible for ensuring that Cabinet Submissions and policy proposals meet the Australian Government Impact Analysis Framework requirements. Departments should contact the Office of Impact Analysis if they require advice and assistance.
     3. Early consultation with the Australian Government Solicitor to confirm legal impacts, ideally prior to the Exposure Draft stage, as required for legislative proposals and new policy proposals, particularly where they involve expenditure.
     4. Early, genuine and meaningful consideration is given to the impact of proposals on First Nations people by:
        1. Consulting with the National Indigenous Australians Agency and relevant communities and organisations.
        2. Ensuring new policy proposals embed and progress the government’s commitments in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, including the priority reforms, socio-economic targets and cross-cutting policy areas.
     5. Ministers are responsible for ensuring that Cabinet Submissions and policy proposals meet gender responsive budgeting requirements outlined in Including Gender: An APS Guide to Gender Analysis and Gender Impact Assessment to contribute to achieving gender equality in line with Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality.
125. The Cabinet Secretary may reject Cabinet items that have not undertaken the required consultation and items not accompanied by relevant impact statements, expense or revenue costings.

Mandatory consultation stages and lodgement deadlines

126. Cabinet consultation processes and timelines balance the need for informed and robust Cabinet decisions with the dynamics of the modern governing environment.
127. Cabinet Submissions and Preliminary Discussion Submissions processes include 2 mandatory consultation stages:
     1. Exposure Draft.
     2. Coordination Final.
128. Exposure Drafts of submissions must be released for consultation a minimum of 10 business days before the submission is scheduled to be considered by the Cabinet or a committee and must generally be available for consultation for at least 5 business days.
129. Coordination Finals of submissions must be released for coordination comments 5 business days before the submission is scheduled to be considered by the Cabinet or a Committee.
130. Cabinet Division will release the final version of submissions to ministers and departments 3 business days before the scheduled Cabinet or committee meeting.
131. Cabinet Division will seek advice from sponsoring departments about the readiness of items 4 weeks before the relevant Cabinet or Committee meeting.
132. If Cabinet Division considers that an item is unlikely to meet timelines, that advice will be provided to the Cabinet Secretary. The sponsoring minister/s may also be required to write to the Cabinet Secretary to explain why the item will be late and why it should remain on the agenda for the relevant meeting.
133. The Cabinet Secretary will only approve late lodgement in exceptional circumstances.

Exposure Drafts

134. Circulation of an Exposure Draft of a submission is the first mandatory consultation phase. Comments and feedback from other departments are provided to the sponsoring minister and their department for consideration. These comments do not go to Cabinet.
135. Ministers are encouraged to seek to address Exposure Draft comments to resolve areas of potential disagreement ahead of consideration by the Cabinet where possible.
136. Exposure Draft consultation should include:
     1. Relevant ministers and departments, including central agencies for comment on:
        1. The substantive policy proposal.
        2. Implementation and delivery planning to support successful implementation and delivery.
        3. Analysis of impacts, risks and challenges associated with proposals.
        4. Cabinet Division, to get feedback on compliance with mandatory requirements for Cabinet documents.
137. Mandatory impact statements should be completed before the Exposure Draft phase. Exposure Drafts should include draft financial information, to support consideration by the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Finance.
138. While departments support their ministers in drafting submissions, submissions are brought forward by ministers and it is essential that ministers have adequate time to review and provide direction on a draft submission.
139. Departments should provide draft submissions to ministers well before the due date for an Exposure Draft. Departments may not circulate Exposure Drafts without approval from the sponsoring minister/s.
140. Subject to ministerial approval, Exposure Drafts can be circulated well in advance of the 10-day deadline, including where an item has not been allocated to a specific meeting date. Multiple Exposure Drafts can also be circulated to refine submissions and reach agreement.

Coordination Finals

141. Once a submission has been released at the Coordination Final stage, the item is under the control of Cabinet Division.
142. Consulted departments provide coordination comments, which is impartial advice that is not cleared by ministers or their staff. This step maintains the independence of the Australian Public Service in providing impartial advice directly to the Cabinet.
143. Submissions are generally not amended at the Coordination Final stage. However, coordination comments from consulted agencies are added to a specific section in the Final Submission to enable ministers to consider these views as part of their deliberations.
144. Coordination comments should be succinct (no longer than half a page), focusing only on the key issues that ministers may wish to consider. Coordination comments must include the position title of the clearing officer in the relevant department.
145. Departments must provide their Coordination Final comments promptly to ensure Final Submissions can be lodged 3 working days before the relevant Cabinet or committee meeting. Cabinet Division may enter a nil comment where a department fails to lodge their coordination comments on time.

Finals

146. Cabinet Division is required to release the Final version of a submission to ministers 3 working days before a Cabinet or committee meeting.
147. Where all coordination comments are supportive, Cabinet Division will release the submission as Final on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary.
148. Where some or all coordination comments indicate concerns or do not support the proposal, Cabinet Division will seek approval from sponsoring minister/s and the Cabinet Secretary to release a submission as Final.

Amending and withdrawing Cabinet documents

149. Sponsoring ministers and departments are responsible for making changes to Cabinet items at the pre-Exposure Draft and Exposure Draft stages.
150. Once a submission has been released at the Coordination Final stage, the item is under the control of Cabinet Division. Only minor editorial amendments can be made at this stage.
151. The Cabinet Secretary may remove recommendations that do not have authority or are non-compliant with the authority or Cabinet requirements.
152. The Cabinet Secretary may remove new policy proposals from Cabinet Submissions that are not accompanied by offsets, unless previously approved by the Prime Minister.
153. It is generally expected that significant changes to a submission are to be settled before it is released for coordination comments.
154. However, occasionally submissions may require significant changes after release for coordination comments. Where this happens, the Submission may be deferred to a later Cabinet meeting to allow a new Coordination Final to be lodged.
155. If circumstances require that the submission goes forward as planned, the sponsoring minister/s may seek approval from the Cabinet Secretary to release a Coordination Final Corrigendum.
156. A Coordination Final Corrigendum enables the sponsoring minister/s and their departments to amend the submission. It is then released to relevant departments to provide updated coordination comments (if necessary). These comments will be included in the Final Submission, consistent with the process in paragraph 143.