Summary heading

Series descriptive note

Function and purpose

This series consists of Cabinet Memoranda received in Cabinet Office during the term of the First Hawke Ministry, from 11 March 1983 to 13 December 1984.  The Australian Labour Party (ALP), led by Robert (Bob) Hawke, won the double dissolution election of 5 March 1983 with a substantial majority (with 75 members elected to the House of Representatives ), forming a caretaker government from 5 March 1983 until the First Ministry, Australia’s fifty-fifth, was sworn in on 11 March 1983 .  Hawke led the ALP to three further election wins, on 1 December 1984, on 11 July 1987 (double dissolution) and on 24 March 1990 before Paul Keating became Prime Minister in 1991.

Ministries: First Hawke Ministry, from 11/3/1983 to 13/12/1984, following Federal election, control symbol range 1 to 1974.  Second Ministry, from 13/12/1984 to 24/7/1987, following Federal election (double-dissolution), range from 1989 to 4955.  Third Ministry, from 24/7/1987 to 4/4/1990, following Federal election, range from 4955 to 7001 (in CRS A14039).  Fourth Ministry from 4/4/1990 to 20/12/1991, when Keating replaced Hawke as Labor Party leader and became PM, range 7002 to 8524.

This series consists of accumulated master copies of Cabinet Memoranda; papers that were submitted by a minister for consideration at Cabinet or Cabinet Committee Meetings that were normally supplementary to an earlier Submission (ie give background to or to substantiate an argument relating to a matter for which no formal Submission had been made) 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.  The 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 (or Minutes without Submissions).  Given 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.  They usually 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 paragraph 8.4 (1976) - [Recommendation 11.21 – see CRS 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, for the remainder of the Fraser administration, 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. 

In the Hawke administration, a similar practice of using Cabinet Memoranda was continued in this series, CRS A13978 (and in the combined Submissions and Memoranda series CRS A14039 from the Second Ministry onwards).  This accumulation of copies of the Memoranda, together with a copy of the relevant Decision in each case, constitutes this series.  The register of the Cabinet Memoranda for the First Hawke Ministry is CRS A13981, in which the same information was included.

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.

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.  By 1981, however, a formal pre-printed cover sheet was required, detailing the Memorandum number, copy number, title, date, originating department, Cabinet or Ministerial authority for Memorandum, purpose of Memorandum, program context, legislation involved, which departments were consulted, whether there was agreement and what were the estimated costs.  Addenda were added to Memoranda (and to Submissions) when Cabinet or a Cabinet committee called for more information (they were not to be used for adding significantly to the text or for making new recommendations) and corrigenda, for correcting errors and omissions from Memoranda (or from Submissions) already circulated to Ministers.  Cabinet Memoranda also include Forward Estimates papers.

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.  When Memoranda were first introduced, they were not subject to the same requirements that applied to Submissions, namely, the structure of the Memorandum, the ‘ten day rule’, the full process of consultation with other interested departments and the prior circulation to Ministers.  Throughout the Hawke administration, however, Memoranda were required to conform to all applicable guidelines for the preparation of Cabinet Submissions.

During the early stages of the Third Hawke Ministry, three policy development committees were created: Public Service Reform Committee, Structural Adjustment Committee and the Social and Family Policy Committee.  These committees were established to address the particularly difficult issues of public service reform, structural adjustment and social and family policy.  Working papers prepared for these committees were lodged with the Cabinet Office as Memoranda.  Such Memoranda were invariably entitled ‘Discussion Paper:  ‘ but were not subject to the same detailed requirements for presentation as were other Memoranda (and Submissions).  Memoranda for the policy development committees were referred to either ‘blue’ minutes (decisions), for endorsement by Cabinet, or ‘white’ minutes, where further information or a formal Memorandum (or Submission) was sought.

For tables of committee meetings by year, name and frequency, as they appear in the Submissions, Memoranda and Decisions (Minutes) series, see End Notes.

For tables of committees as they appeared within each Ministry of the Hawke Government, see the series descriptive note for CRS A13979 or CRS A13977.

It was not uncommon for ministers to introduce a matter at Cabinet meetings, with the prior consent of the Prime Minister, for which no formal Submission had been made.  These were termed ‘under the line’ matters and resulted in a Decision Without Submission.  As already explained, such proposals were identified as ‘Cabinet Papers’ in the early days of the Fraser regime but were replaced by Cabinet Memoranda from February 1979.  Because Memoranda could be anticipated, like Submissions, the same requirements that applied to Submissions were gradually applied to Memoranda so that in time the distinction between an initial Submission and subsequent supporting Memoranda became less apparent.  As indicated here, Memoranda continued to be a feature of ministerial policy machinations throughout the Hawke administration.

With the advent of the ‘mega-departments’ in 1987, Cabinet agenda contained only up to ten items and senior ministers were able to concentrate their focus on political matters of the highest importance.  Changes to the way in which ‘under-the-line’ Submissions were dealt with meant that ministers knew which items were being brought to Cabinet.  By 1988, the Cabinet Office had developed the practice of circulating in advance a list of items that were to be discussed ‘under-the-line’.  It came to pass that ‘under-the-line’ matters were dealt with following formal business, ensuring that formal Submissions were discussed first.  The consent of the Prime Minister had been required during the Fraser administration to introduce meetings to discuss ‘under-the-line’ Submissions.

Related legislation

Using the series

As all Memoranda have been entered into the RecordSearch database, a Memorandum relating to any particular subject can be retrieved by keyword search in RecordSearch (limiting search by Series No A13978).  This series contains Memoranda relating to the First Hawke Ministry only; all other Submissions can be found in CRS A14039, Second through to the Fourth Hawke Ministries - Submissions and Memoranda.  An alternative is to peruse the Register of Memoranda (CRS A13981).  More background material may be found on the relevant file in the Cabinet Office’s CA series (CRS A11116)  The department headed by the ‘Responsible Minister’ may also have files on the subject in its general correspondence files series.

The entry for the CA file in RecordSearch shows the relevant Memorandum number in the title field.

See 'System of arrangement and control' in the series descriptive note for CRS A14039 for information regarding RecordSearch entries in this series with titles commencing 'Reference copy of'.

Language of material

Physical characteristics

The practice of the Cabinet Office was that a copy of each finalised Memorandum received, together with a copy of the relevant subsequent Decision in each case, were filed in a sequence of folders arranged by the Memorandum number.  There was a total of 7 folders when the series was transferred in to the custody of the National Archives.  For preservation reasons and to improve accessibility to the records, the Memoranda have now been removed from the folders and individually repackaged into acid-free folders and are now controlled and described in the RecordSearch database as discrete record entries.  The range of Memoranda in each folder appears on a blue label on the spine of the folder.

Each Memorandum includes a pre-printed cover sheet, similar to the Submissions, detailing the Memorandum number, copy number, title, date, originating department, Cabinet or Ministerial authority for the Memorandum, purpose of the Memorandum, program context, legislation involved, departments consulted, whether there was agreement and what were the estimated costs.

System of arrangement and control

The items of this series are controlled by the sequential Memorandum number allocated from the Memorandum Register (CRS A13981) and therefore reflect the chronology of the Memoranda being received in the Cabinet Office.  The Memoranda numbers form a simple number sequence ranging from 1 to 581 (or 1 to 8524 for the entire Hawke administration).  Originally, they were accumulated by the Cabinet Office in a sequence of seventeen folders but have since, for preservation and accessibility reasons, been repackaged into acid-free folders and into acid-free containers, and are now controlled and described at Memorandum number level on RecordSearch.

For items that were missing from the folders in this series upon transfer to the Archives, copy items were created from copies found by Archives' staff in CA files (A11116).  Item titles on RecordSearch commence with 'Reference copy of'.  For more detailed information, please see series descriptive note, under 'System of arrangement and control', for CRS A14039.

A gap exists between the final Memorandum number of the First Ministry and the first of the Second Ministry (1974 to 1989).  Throughout the Hawke Ministries, there are further incidences of gaps in numbers; in 1988 (Third Ministry), for instance, several gaps have been observed where records do not appear in series CRS A14039. 

There is currently no Register of Submissions and Memoranda (for the Second to Fourth Hawke Ministries) in the custody of the Archives.  Registers generally explain why a number is missing in each case. 

Relationships with other records

The Memoranda numbers are allocated from the Memorandum register (CRS A13981) which documents the receipt in Cabinet Office of all Memoranda made during the First Hawke Ministry.  A copy of the relevant Decision or Decisions is filed with each Memorandum.  The relevant file in the CA series (CRS A11116) documents the process of preparation of the Memorandum for presentation to the Cabinet.  The Decision register (not currently in the custody of the Archives) controls the allocation of Decision number to register all Decisions made in that ministry, including Decisions Without Submissions.  The Decisions themselves (generally one page for each Decision) were accumulated in A13979.  The Attendance Sheets (CRS A14049) record which ministers were present at each meeting (as well as the type of meeting, whether cabinet or a committee), and who were the notetakers at each meeting.

Finding aids

This series and related series of the First (Second, Third and Fourth) Hawke Ministry are described in the RecordSearch database both at series level and item level.  For general information regarding the Cabinet Office, refer to CRS registration for agency CA 1472 in RecordSearch.  The Cabinet Office procedures regarding preparation of Memoranda is described in detail in the Cabinet Handbook which was first printed during the term of the second Fraser Ministry (February in 1976) with updates published in 1983, 1998 and 1991.  The Handbook also outlines the operation of the Cabinet system in broad terms.  The present edition (the seventh) can be seen at http:/www.dpmc.gov.au.

Access conditions

Series history

Provenance

The records that constitute this series were created in the various government departments and registered as record items of this series in Cabinet Office (CA1472) between March 1983 and December 1984.

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 and July 2011.

Quantity in agency custody

Disposal history

Cabinet records fall into one of the pre-2000 disposal classes that, under Archives' transfer policy, may be transferred into Archives' custody.  The class that the records in this series were transferred into Archives' custody is RDA class 492/1.1.

Publication note

Additional information

End notes

Note 1.

The following tables represent the number and type of committee meetings held during the Hawke administration.  Note that some meetings involved more than one committee.  Meetings have been grouped into calendar years and by series, sorted from the highest number of meetings held in any calendar year to the lowest number held.

1983 - Submissions

Legal and Administrative          97

Expenditure Review   79

Industry          64

Social Policy   61

Infrastructure  47

Economic Policy         44

Defence and External Relations         30

Revenue          18

Sub-Committee on Legal and Administrative Matters  10

Economic Policy/Industry      4

Full Ministry           3

Committee for Pecuniary Interests     1

Committee on South-West Tasmania   1

Committee on Tax Avoidance Issues   1

Industry/Expenditure Review            1

Parliamentary Business           1

Government Purchasing          1

Social Security Computer       1

1983 - Memoranda

Expenditure Review   119

Parliamentary Business           36

Economic Policy         20

Revenue          8

National and International Security       6

Social Policy      3

Committee on South-West Tasmania   3

Infrastructure     2

Legal and Administrative          2

Full Ministry           2

Committee for Pecuniary Interests     1

1983 - Decisions

Legislation      149

Ministry           73

Expenditure Review   30

Social Policy   20

Revenue          13

Parliamentary Business           12

National and International Security       4

Legal and Administrative          4

Industry          3

1984 - Submissions

Expenditure Review   75

Legal and Administrative          56

Industry          41

Infrastructure  22

Revenue          22

Social Policy      22

Economic Policy         10

Defence and External Relations         10

Ministry           2

Legislation      1

Sub-Committee on Industry Restructuring    1

1984 - Memoranda

Expenditure Review   125

Parliamentary Business     25

Revenue          11

Legal and Administrative          3

Committee for Pecuniary Interests     1

Infrastructure  1

Social Policy   1

Industry     1

1984 - Decisions

Legislation      145

Expenditure Review   41

Ministry           28

National and International Security       4

Parliamentary Business           3

Revenue          3

Social Policy   3

Industry          1

Ad Hoc Committee on Nurse Education       1

Economic Policy         1

Legal and Administrative          1

1984 – Submissions/Memoranda (combined series CRS A14039)

Legal and Administrative          3

National Crime Authority Sub-Committee     2

Industry      1

International and Defence         1

1985 - Decisions

Legislation      145

Expenditure Review   51

Budget            11

Ministry           9

Parliamentary Business           7

Security           6

Taxation          6

Legal and Administrative          3

Industry          2

Sub-Committee on ACT Self-Government    2

Economic Policy         1

International and Defence         1

1985 – Submissions/Memoranda

Expenditure Review   647

Legal and Administrative          77

Industry          49

Ministry           35

Taxation Sub-Committee        35

Parliamentary Business           32

Security           21

Economic Policy         19

International and Defence         19

Social Policy   15

Budget            2

Sub-Committee on Commonwealth Statutory Authorities and Government Enterprises         1

1986 - Decisions

Legislation      103

Expenditure Review   98

Augmented Expenditure Review       52

Sub-Committee on Maintenance        7

Full Ministry           4

Sub-Committee on Economic Adjustment     4

Security           3

Revenue          3

Industry          2

1986 – Submissions/Memoranda

Expenditure Review   331

Augmented Expenditure Review       214

Legal and Administrative          36

Parliamentary Business           30

Industry          22

Sub-Committee on Trade Competitiveness    14

Revenue          10

Sub-Committee on ACT Self-Government    9

International and Defence         8

Sub-Committee on Longer Term Economic Growth  7

Security           6

Social Policy   6

Ministry           5

National Crime Authority       2

Ministerial Task Force on Youth Allowances Revenue          1

Sub-Committee on Industrial Relations Aspects of Australia’s Export Industries    1

1987 - Decisions

Legislation      145

Expenditure Review   132

Ministry           22

Sub-Committee on Trade Competitiveness    5

Legal and Administrative          2

Structural Adjustment            2

Sub-Committee on Family Assistance            2

Augmented Expenditure Review       2

Security           1

Revenue          1

Sub-Committee on Maintenance        1

1987 – Submissions/Memoranda

Expenditure Review   359

General Administrative           36

Structural Adjustment            31

Parliamentary Business           25

Legal & Administrative          18

Augmented Expenditure        16

Social Policy   9

Sub-Committee on Family Assistance            9

Revenue          8

Sub-Committee on Trade Competitiveness    6

Public Service Reform            5

Industry          1

Security           1

1988 - Decisions

Legislation      163

Expenditure Review   48

Structural Adjustment            22

Full Ministry           5

Revenue          3

1988 – Submissions/Memoranda

Expenditure Review   201

Structural Adjustment            62

Revenue          26

Parliamentary Business           24

Social and Family Policy           22

General Administrative           19

Public Service Reform            15

1989 - Minutes

Legislation          158

Expenditure Review   55

Ad Hoc       16

Structural Adjustment     15

Full Ministry      4

Parliamentary Business     3

Revenue    1

1989 - Submissions/Memoranda

Expenditure Review     210

Structural Adjustment    57

Parliamentary Business    21

General Administrative    20

Revenue    20

Social and Family Policy    4

1990 - Minutes

Legislation   127

Expenditure Review    28

Full Ministry      12

Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development      6

Parliamentary Business    4

Revenue     2

Ad Hoc    1

1990 - Submissions/Memoranda

Expenditure Review    202

Structural Adjustment     22

Parliamentary Business     16

Revenue    11

Social Justice    4

Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development      4

General Administrative    3

1991 - Minutes

Legislation    204

Ad Hoc      6

Expenditure Review     6

Full Ministry      5

Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development      4

Social Justice    3

Structural Adjustment     1

1991 - Submissions/Memoranda

Expenditure Review      148

Ad Hoc     46

Structural Adjustment    26

Parliamentary Business    23

Social Justice     19

Revenue    11

Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development      2

Sources

8. National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch series CRS A11116, item CA61 Parts 2, 3 and 4.

9. National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch series CRS A1209, item 1988/2704 Parts 2 to 6.

10. John Howard, A Guide on Key Elements of Ministerial Responsibility, Canberra, 1998.