Summary heading

  Descriptive Note

Function and purpose

A Cabinet Decision  - traditionally called a ‘Cabinet Minute’ – is the essential record output of the Cabinet system – it is the fiat which authorises the bureaucracy to act in matters of significance – high level policy issues, major expenditure or significant appointments.     All matters discussed in a  Cabinet meeting result in a Cabinet Decision (even if the decision is merely that the matter was noted.)  The matters discussed are normally the formal  Submissions received from Ministers and Departments which are listed in the agenda, prepared by Cabinet Office  for that meeting.  However, a Minister may, by prior agreement of the Prime Minister, bring up another matter for discussion for which no formal submission has been made,  These are known as ‘under-the-line matters and the Decision resulting from the discussion is termed a Decision without Submission.

A senior officer of the Cabinet Office  attends the Cabinet meetings to take notes of the discussion and the decisions made.  Immediately after the conclusion of the meeting the Decisions are typed up and  registered  in the Cabinet Office and distributed to Ministers and departments for action as required.    Cabinet Decisions are also referred to as Cabinet Minutes.

This series consists of a single volume containing a copy of all Decisions made at Cabinet meetings during the term of the first Fraser Ministry, filed in sequence by the Decision number.

The first Fraser Ministry  was in effect an interim ministry of 15 members, sworn in as a caretaker government on 11 November 1975, following the dismissal of the Whitlam government.  It remained in place for six weeks while the outcome of the election set for 13 December 1975 was determined.  

During this time there were two meetings of cabinet. (The cabinet comprised the whole ministry, as had been the practice of the Whitlam government.)

The first meeting occurred on 12 November – that is, the day after the government was formed.  As would be expected, since there hadn’t been time for any formal submission process, all the matters considered at this meeting were without submission.  They were mainly  administrative or housekeeping matters – with the exception of the last item :  ‘North Korea and Portuguese Timor’.  A total of eleven Cabinet Decisions were made at this meeting.

The second meeting was held a week later on 19 November 1975. At this meeting the 12 submissions which had in the meantime been formally registered in the Cabinet Office (CRS A12908) were considered – along with a further six matters without submission.  The formal submissions included some which were re-registrations of existing submissions which had lapsed when the Whitlam cabinet ceased.   There was a wide range of  subject matter including Education programs, Nursing Home benefits, industry assistance and purchase of aircraft.  In total eighteen Cabinet Decisions were made at this meeting

There were no further cabinet meetings of this ministry.  The ministry formally ended on 22 December 1975 when a new Fraser government (with a much expanded ministry) was sworn in following the Coalition’s election victory.  The numbering sequences of both Submissions and Decisions of the caretaker government were discontinued and new number sequences were begun by the Cabinet office for the second Fraser ministry.  

In the course of the First Fraser Ministry therefore, there was a total of 29 Cabinet Decisions (this series) of which only 12 related to Submissions (CRS A12908) and 17 were without Submission.  All of the Decisions were decision of the Cabinet itself – there were no Cabinet Committees in this ministry.

Related legislation

 

Using the series

All the Decisions of the First Fraser Ministry are present in this series.  However, only those without Submission have been individually described in the item database of RecordSearch.   (The folder has been entered as a standard item entry and those Decisions in that folder which are Without Submission are entered as sub-items of the entry for the folder.   Entry is done in this way because this series is the only place where Decisions Without Submission can be seen.  In all other cases (that is, Decisions made in response to a Submission) a copy of the Decision is present in the Submission series A12908 – all items of which have been individually entered in RecordSearch.  A keyword search in RecordSearch will therefore find any Decision on this subject, in series A12908 if the Decision related to a Submission, or in series A12909 if there was no Submission. 

Where a Decision was made by a Committee (rather than by Cabinet itself) the name of the Committee is indicated by an alpha suffix appended to the Decision Number. However, there were no Cabinet Committees during the term of the first Fraser Ministry.

The Register of Decisions (CRS A12911) shows the relevant LC file for each Decision (that is, including Decisions without Submissions)

As all submissions have been entered in RecordSearch database, a submission relating to any particular subject can be retrieved by keyword search in RecordSearch (limiting search by Series No 12908.)   An alternative is to peruse the Register of Submissions (CRS A12910)   A submission is normally, by direction of the Cabinet Office,  a fairly brief document.  More background material may be found on the relevant file in the Cabinet Office’s LC series (CRS A10756)  The department which prepared the submission will also have files on the subject, including the drafting of the submission, in its general correspondence files series.  (The Cover Sheet on top of  each  submission indicates which Minister - and hence which department - is making the submission.)

The entry for the LC file in RecordSearch shows the relevant Submission number in the Title field.

Note that there is no correlation between a Submission number and the Decision number for that submission.  The sequence of Submission numbers reflects the chronology of the submissions’ being received in Cabinet Office.  The sequence of Decision numbers reflects the chronology of the submissions’ being presented to a cabinet meeting for consideration - and there are many variable factors that intervene to affect the latter.  In addition, the sequence of Decision numbers includes Decisions on matters for which no submission was made (known as ‘Decisions without Submissions’)  The Decision number is therefore normally well in advance (in numerical terms) of the Submission number.  In the course of the First Fraser ministry, there were 12 Submission and 29 Decisions.

Language of material

Physical characteristics

  The practice of the Cabinet Office is that copies of all Decisions are accumulated in a sequence of visidex folders arranged by the Decision number.  In the case of the First Fraser ministry only one folder was required.

In the custody of the National Archives this folder has been retained (unlike the submissions, A12908,  each of which has been re-packaged in individual folders and the Folder discarded.)

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 the Decision Number allocated from the Decision Register (CRS A12911 )   The Decision number sequence is a simple number sequence ranging from 1 to 29.  There are no alpha suffixes to the Decision numbers in this series indicating that all the Decisions were made by the Cabinet itself (and not by a Cabinet Committee)

Relationships with other records

  The submission numbers are allocated from the Submission register (CRS A12910)  which documents the receipt in Cabinet Office of all submissions made during the ministry   The relevant file in the LC series (CRS A10756) documents the process of preparation of the submission for presentation to the cabinet.  The Decision register (CRS A12911)  controls the allocation of Decision number to register all Decisions made in that ministry, including Decisions without Submissions.  The Decisions themselves (normally one page for each Decision) are accumulated in this series (ie 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 First Fraser Ministry 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 regarding preparation of  Submissions is described in detail in the Cabinet Handbook which was first 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 created in the Cabinet Office (CA1472) in November 1975

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

 

End notes

Sources