Summary heading

 

Function and purpose

 This series consists of  the formal record of Decisions made by Cabinet and Cabinet committees during the term of the Whitlam government.  Cabinet Decisions are immediately distributed to relevant Ministers and departments and effectively constitute authority to the administrative arm of government to implement the expressed will of the government in any particular matter.

There were three ministries during the course of the Whitlam government:

     First Ministry:  5 to 19 December 1972

     Second Ministry:   19 December 1972  to  12 June 1974

     [Election held on 18 May 1974]

     Third Whitlam Ministry:  12 June 1974  to  11 November 1975

It is normal practice in Cabinet Office to recommence the sequence of  Submission and Decision numbers when a new ministry is formed, and consequently, in archival terms, a new series commences with each new ministry.

However, there were no formal Submissions or Decisions during the very brief term of the First Whitlam Ministry.  The first Decision in this series occurs at the beginning of the second Ministry.  The last Decision recorded by Cabinet office in the term of this ministry is number 2203 (Decision made at meeting on 23 April 1974) and, in normal practice, this would mark the end of the series.  However, the government being returned to office in the election of 18 May 1974, the Prime Minister gave emphasis to the continuity of office by making only one change to the ministry (Senator Wheeldon being the new minister.)   In the circumstances it was decided by the Cabinet Office, and at the expressed preference of the Prime Minister, to continue the same numbering sequences for both Submissions and Decisions.  Consequently the first Decision of the new Ministry, made at a meeting on 11 June 1974, was registered as number 2204 in this series (and not number 1 in a new series.)

The upshot is that this series contains all Decisions during the term of the Whitlam government (December 1972 to November 1975).

This series includes not only Decisions made in response to formal Submissions (documented in series A5915) but also Decisions on matters which were presented verbally in a relative impromptu manner by Minsters during the course of a meeting. (In fact standing instructions required that any minister intending to raise an issue for cabinet discussion had to clear it with the Prime Minister in advance of the meeting.)  These Decision are designated Decisions without Submissions.

In the case of decisions made in response to a formal submission, a  copy of the Decision is placed with the Submission document in series A5915.  However where no submission exists, the Decision document can be seen only in this series.  (See ‘Using the series’ below.)

A second set of Decisions, in identical arrangement to the items in this series, was maintained by the Cabinet Office for use as a reference set in the Cabinet Room at Parliament House.

Related legislation

 

Using the series

  The Decision Register (CRS A5926) shows the Decision number; the date of the meeting at which the decision was made; the Submission number, or ‘W/S’ if without Submission; and either the Submission Title or, if without submission, a précis of the subject matter.

A copy of the Decision is present on the Submission document in series A5915.  However, if the Decision is without Submission, the Decision document can be seen only in this series.  Decisions without Submission have been entered n the RecordSearch database (as sub-items of the Volume in which the Decision occurs) in order to allow keyword search by subject matter  Decisions with Submission have not been individually entered since they can be readily accessed in the context of the submission itself.

Language of material

 

Physical characteristics

  The Decision document are in a standard format; most often a Decision consists of one folio only showing Decision number, whether a Decision of cabinet or of a committee, the Decision number, the number of the relevant submission or alternatively that it is a Decision without Submission, the title of the Submission and finally a brief statement of what was actually decided.

The documents in this series are housed in fourteen brown Visidex folders

System of arrangement and control

 All Decisions are registered and controlled in one numerical sequence, whether with or without Submission and whether a Decision of the Cabinet proper or a Decision of a Cabinet Committee.  The Decision number was allocated from a register now controlled as CRS A5926. 

When a  submission was received and registered in the Cabinet office, the Prime Minister determined whether it should be considered by a the Cabinet or whether it should be considered, at least initially, by a Committee.  (Most Committee Decisions required endorsement by the Cabinet proper before being acted on.)  A system of suffixes to the Decision number was used to distinguish decisions of Cabinet Committees from those made by the Cabinet proper (which have no suffix), in the following scheme:

     AD HOC – A generic abbreviation for any ad hoc committee

     EC – Economic committee

     ERC – Expenditures Review Committee

     CCR – Resources Committee

     FAD – Foreign Affairs and Defence committee

     LEG – Legislation Committee

     URD – Urban and Regional Development Committee

     WEL – Welfare Committee

Note that the sequence of submission numbers reflects the chronology of the submission’s being received and registered in the Cabinet Office.  The sequence of the Decision numbers reflects the chronology of the meetings at which the submission was subsequently considered.  Because there were many intervening factors that determine when a submission might actually be put before a meeting of cabinet or cabinet committee, the two sequences of numbers are not parallel.

There are some gaps in the numbering sequence of Decisions in this series.  These are simply numbers that for one reason or another were not used.  These omissions are annotated as such in the Register of Decisions (CRS A5926)

The Decisions are housed in 14 volumes.  The volumes themselves are controlled by a simple number sequence and are labelled Volume 1 to Volume 14.  The volumes have been entered in RecordSearch as standard item entries; the Decisions Without Submissions are entered as sub-items of the entry for the Volume in which the Decision occurs.

Relationships with other records

 

Finding aids

 

Access conditions

 

Series history

 

Provenance

 

Immediate source of acquisition

 

Custodial history

  All the items of tis series were transferred to the custody of NAA from Cabinet Office on 25 October 2001.

Quantity in agency custody

 

Disposal history

 

Publication note

 

Additional information

 

End notes

 

Sources