VPRS 11944 Cabinet and Cabinet Committee Submissions, Cain/Kirner Government (1982-1992) and Kennett Government (1992-1999)

This series comprises submissions to Cabinet from 1982 to 1999 and submissions to Cabinet Committees from 1987 to 1994. This period spans the period of the Labor Government led by John Cain and his successor as Premier, Joan Kirner between April 1982 to October 1992 and the Liberal/Nationals coalition led by Premier Jeff Kennett between October 1992 - October 1999. All of the records of the Kennett Government are subject to an access closure under S10 (1) of the Public Records Act and will be made available for public inspection on 1 January 2032.                                                      Cabinet Recordkeeping In April 1982 the Labor Government led by John Cain was elected. The new government established the  process for the creation and distribution of cabinet records. A Cabinet Office was also created within the Department of Premier and Cabinet to operate as a Secretariat. Precise records creating requirements were introduced and a system of using submissions to bring matters before Cabinet was established. This system was set out in detail in the 1989 and 1997 editions of the Cabinet Handbook (see VPRS 11953). Many matters requiring Cabinet's consideration were brought to Cabinet by a Cabinet Submission. Submissions were lodged with the Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet, ideally twelve days prior to the meeting at which they were to be considered (although often this deadline was not met) and were distributed to Cabinet members prior to the meeting.  For each meeting an agenda was prepared by the Parliamentary Secretary in liaison with the Cabinet Office and distributed a few days prior to the meeting. Officers of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet provided a written briefing to the Premier on some matters to be considered by Cabinet. Briefing papers for the Cain/Kirner government are held in VPRS 11951 and for the Kennett government in VPRS 12340. Other Cabinet Ministers in either government may have also received additional briefings from officers of their departments. Officials did not attend Cabinet meetings of the Cain/Kirner government. From October 1992 the Department of Premier and Cabinet was represented at Cabinet meetings by the Department Secretary or his representative. The Departmental Secretary's Cabinet Notebooks, containing notes taken at Cabinet meetings, comprise VPRS 12493 Secretary's Cabinet notebooks. The Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet took a record of the decisions of Cabinet and prepared a Cabinet Record of each meeting. This summarised the decisions of the meeting. Each Cabinet Record was approved by the Premier then copies were sent to all Ministers. The master was retained in the Office of the Parliamentary Secretary and ultimately bound into volumes. Bound Cabinet Records for the Cain/Kirner government are held in VPRS 11948 and for the Kennett government in VPRS 12341. The Cabinet Office also maintained a register of Cabinet decisions as required by section 10 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. This register was a separate document from the Cabinet Record and its content was approved by the Premier. The register comprises VPRS 11949.