Summary heading

Descriptive Note   

Function and purpose

This series consists of accumulated master copies of Cabinet Memoranda – that is, papers which were submitted for consideration at Cabinet or Cabinet Committee Meetings which were normally supplementary to an earlier Submission and often in response to a specific request contained in a Cabinet Decision.  Memoranda were intended to further elaborate and support a proposal or matter under discussion and may complement an earlier Submission or may be a paper supporting a matter introduced to a meeting where no formal submission had been made

The concept of Cabinet Papers (CRS A12933) had been adopted in 1976 to accommodate papers which were introduced by a Minister at a Cabinet or Committee meeting to give background or to substantiate an argument relating to a matter for which no formal submission had been made.  (Cabinet Handbook provided that a Minister may, by prior agreement with the Prime Minister, introduce a matter for discussion at a Cabinet meeting – or a Committee meeting -  for which no formal submission had been made.  Decisions made in these cases are termed Decisions without Submissions)  Because of their importance in influencing the outcome of the discussion, it was felt that such papers should be identified and controlled.  Accordingly, from September 1976 the practice was introduced of registering and identifying such papers.

Generally these Papers were not written for presentation to Cabinet – and usually they did not contain a recommendation so that it was more difficult for the Cabinet Office staff to frame a Decision in such cases.  The Review of Cabinet Arrangements undertaken in Cabinet Office in late 1978 addressed this issue and one of the recommendations in the report (presented to Prime Minister Fraser by departmental Secretary G.J.Yeend on 17 November 1978) was that:

‘Submissions authorised by Ministers and containing recommendations should remain the major vehicle for consideration of issues.  A tighter control should therefore be exercised over papers other than Submissions coming to Cabinet/Committees.  In the main these should be limited to papers called for by Cabinet providing supplementary or other factual information, or developing options within guidelines defined by Cabinet.  They should be prepared in identifiable format, numbered and registered, and be known in future as ‘Cabinet Memoranda’ rather than ‘Papers’ – the Cabinet Office to include suitable guidelines in the Cabinet Handbook para 8.4

[Recommendation 11.21 – see  A10756 item LC 2198 Part 2 (folio 213)]

These recommendations were implemented in February 1979.  Accordingly the registration of Papers in series A12933 was discontinued, and from 5 February 1979 a new series of Cabinet Memoranda was begun.  From that date Memoranda were controlled by entry in a new register (CRS A12932) The entry in the register showed Memorandum Number, Title, Responsible Minister, Number of copies received, Date and Time received, Date Circulated; Number of relevant Decision taken at the meeting and relevant File in LC series.  A copy of the Memorandum was then filed in an accumulation of folders, arranged by this registration number (a simple number sequence.)  A copy of the subsequent Decision was also filed with each Memorandum.  This accumulation of copies of the Memoranda, together with a copy of the relevant Decision in each case, constitutes this series.

The purpose of this change from Cabinet Papers to Cabinet Memoranda was to limit the occurrence of unscheduled paper and to make any such papers conform more to the style and format of formal Submissions – in particular Memoranda should be written for presentation to Cabinet and should include a recommendation.  Unlike Cabinet papers which appeared at a meeting and had had not previously been seen by Cabinet office staff, the Memoranda were normally received in Cabinet Office prior to the meeting so it was much easier to control them.

 

Like the Papers, the Memoranda are varied in format and content but are normally a substantial report prepared by departmental officers, or a working party as required.  

Initially the Memoranda were physically of the same appearance as the Papers they had replaced – there was usually a cover sheet on which was typed the same information and in the same format as had applied to the Papers  – usually a blank sheet (that is, not pre-printed) on which is typed the Memorandum Number and Copy Number, then the Title of the paper, and at the bottom of the page, the name of the Department. The title often made reference to a previous Cabinet Decision which had called for the paper.   Occasionally this sheet is not present and there is merely a stamp in red ink showing ‘Memorandum Number…’ and the number is handwritten in.  However from Memorandum No 1307 received on 30 March 1981 a formal pre-printed Cover Sheet was adopted – modelled on that used for the Cabinet Submissions

Cabinet Memoranda also include Forward Estimates papers – which had briefly (in 1977) been controlled a as discrete series.

The format of Cabinet Memoranda was intentionally similar to Submissions – the conceptual difference being that Memoranda should be supplementary papers hopefully limited to those specifically requested by Cabinet in a Decision. They were not initially subjected to the same requirements that applied to Submissions – namely the 10 day rule, the full process of consultation with other interested departments and the prior circulation to Ministers. (There are frequently annotations in the ‘circulated’ column of the register saying ‘circulated at meeting’.)  Also Submissions were signed by the Minister, signifying his endorsement of the paper and assumption of responsibility for the content but Memoranda had a lesser status.  But in time the distinction between the two became less clear, particularly as Cabinet Office tended to process both Submissions and Memoranda in the same way.  By early 1980’’s Department of Finance was complaining that the distinction had been lost and Memoranda were being submitted where Submissions were required (A10756 item LC179 Part3)

This process remained in place until the end of the Fraser government, the last Memorandum in this series being number 2208 registered on 8 February 1983.

Related legislation

 

Using the series

As all Memoranda have been entered in RecordSearch database, a Memorandum relating to any particular subject can be retrieved by keyword search in RecordSearch (limiting search by Series No 12930.)   An alternative is to peruse the Register of Memoranda (CRS A12932)   More background material may be found on the relevant file in the Cabinet Office’s LC series (CRS A10756)  The department headed by the ‘Responsible Minister’ may  also have files on the subject in its general correspondence files series. 

Language of material

Physical characteristics

The Memoranda were at first in varied format – though usually there was  a front page that showed a standard range of information – including the Title of the paper, the Department or Departments responsible and a date – with the Memorandum Number typed in top corner.  By early 1981 however there was a standardised pre-printed Cover Sheet like that for Submissions, showing Title; Date; Originating Department; ‘What Decision called for the Memorandum’; Departments Consulted and extent of agreement.

The practice of the Cabinet Office was that ‘master’ copies of all Cabinet Memoranda are accumulated in a sequence of visidex folders arranged by the registered Memorandum number.  There was  a total of 59 folders when the series was transferred to the custody of the National Archives.    However, for preservation reasons and to improve accessibility, the Memoranda have now been removed from these folders and individually repackaged in acid-free folders and are now controlled and described in the RecordSearch database as discrete record items.

The Decisions are created in Cabinet Office in a standardised format, normally consisting of one sheet only. 

System of arrangement and control

  The items of this series are controlled by a sequential number allocated from the Cabinet Memoranda  Register (CRS A12932)   The range of numbers is 1 to 2208   Originally they were accumulated by Cabinet Office in a sequence of 59 folders.  However since transfer to the custody of NAA, for preservation reasons and to improve accessibility,  the Memoranda have been removed from the folders and individually re-packaged in acid-free folders and are now controlled and described as discrete record items in RecordSearch.

Relationships with other records

  The Memoranda numbers are allocated from the Cabinet Memoranda Register (CRS A12932)    This process was introduced from February 1979 replacing Cabinet Papers (CRS A12933) which were slightly different in that Memoranda were supplementary papers prepared expressly for presentation to Cabinet and containing a recommendation.  The relevant file in the LC series (CRS A10756) contains background information on the matter.  The Decision register (CRS A 13075)  controls the allocation of Decision number to register all Decisions made during this period, including Decisions without Submissions.  The Decisions themselves (normally one page for each Decision) are accumulated in series A13050).  The Attendance Sheets (CRS A12575) record which ministers were present  at each meeting (as well as the type of meeting – whether cabinet or a committee – and also who the Notetakers were at each meeting.)

Finding aids

  This series and related series of the Fraser Ministries are described in RecordSearch database both at Series level and item level.  For general information regarding the Cabinet office refer to registration for agency CA 1472 in RecordSearch.  The Cabinet Office procedures are described in detail in the Cabinet Handbook which was re-printed during the term of the second Fraser Ministry (February in 1976.)  The Handbook also outlines the operation of the Cabinet system in broad terms.  The present edition (the fifth) can be seen at   www.pmc.gov.au/guidelines/index.cfm

Note that Cabinet Decisions are referred to in the Handbook, and in some other contexts, as Cabinet Minutes.  Matters that are raised in the Cabinet meeting for which no submission has been made (leading to a Decision without Submission) are referred to as ‘under–the-line’ matters.

Access conditions

 

Series history

 

Provenance

  The records that constitute this series were recorded in the Cabinet Office (CA1472) between February 1979 and March 1983

Immediate source of acquisition

 

Custodial history

  The records that constitute this series were transferred from the Cabinet Office to the custody of the National Archives in May 2004

Quantity in agency custody

 

Disposal history

 

Publication note

 

Additional information

The series registration contents start date has been changed to circa January 1979 as some documents held in this series pre-date the formal start date of the introduction of Cabinet Memoranda (5 February 1979).

End notes

 

Sources