VPRS 11951 Agenda and Premier's Briefing Papers, Cain/Kirner Government

This series comprises agendas for Cabinet meetings and briefing papers prepared by the Cabinet Office for the Premier created for the government led by John Cain and later Joan Kirner between 1982-1992. Cabinet Recordkeeping from 1982 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 within the Department of Premier and Cabinet was also created 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 Cabinet Handbook (see VPRS 11953). Many matters requiring Cabinet's consideration were brought to Cabinet by a Cabinet Submission. Submissions were lodged 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 submissions to Cabinet see VPRS 11944 Cabinet and Cabinet Committee Submissions. 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. The Cabinet Office provided Cabinet provided a written briefing to the Premier on some matters to be considered by Cabinet. Briefing papers for the years 1982 to 1992 comprise this series (VPRS 11951).  Some other Cabinet Ministers may also have received additional briefings from officers of their Departments. Officials did not attend Cabinet meetings during the period covered by this series. 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, for the period covered by this series, ultimately bound into volumes. (See  VPRS 11948.) The Cabinet Office also maintained a register of Cabinet decisions as required by section 10 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (See VPRS 11949). This register was a separate document from the Cabinet Record and its content was approved by the Premier. Cabinet Agenda and Briefing Papers The papers in this series comprise Cabinet Office copies of papers forwarded to the Premier prior to each Cabinet meeting. Two types of documents were included in the series: agenda, and briefing notes to the Premier. For each Cabinet meeting there was one or more stapled bundles of briefing papers with a copy of the agenda on top. The agenda are missing for some of the meetings. This indicates that the contents of papers for those particular meetings might not be complete. Agenda The Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet, in liaison with the Cabinet Office and the Premier, prepared the agenda for each Cabinet meeting.  Each agenda item was numbered and listed with the name of the Minister responsible for it ("P" denoted Premier). Where a submission regarding the agenda item had been distributed the submission number was also given. The "date received" column indicated the date the Cabinet submission was received by the Cabinet Office, or the date, Cabinet meeting number and agenda item number at which the matter was first raised in Cabinet. Briefing Papers The Cabinet Office provided the Premier with an additional briefing regarding some matters to be discussed by Cabinet. In some instances the briefing note comprised only a few sentences, in other instances a detailed briefing paper was prepared. During the period 1982 to 1992 briefing notes appear to have been used to: -- inform the Premier about matters for which there was no Cabinet submission, -- indicate whether the Department of Premier and Cabinet thought a proposal had been adequately considered prior to going to Cabinet, -- warn of the political implications of certain courses of action, and -- advise the Premier when the Department of Premier and Cabinet disagreed with the recommendations of a submission. Only some matters on the Cabinet agenda were the subject of briefing papers. In some instances the papers for a Cabinet meeting also included a copy of a memo to the Premier summarising the agenda items for which a brief was provided. Missing Papers The agendas and briefing papers for some meetings, including the first meeting of Cabinet under the Labor Government in April 1982, are missing from the consignment transferred to the Public Record Office.

本系列档案涵盖1982年至1992年间，由约翰·凯恩（John Cain）及后琼·基纳（Joan Kirner）领导的工党政府内阁会议议程，以及内阁办公厅（Cabinet Office）为州长（Premier）筹备的会前简报文件。
1982年起的内阁档案管理：1982年4月，约翰·凯恩领导的工党政府当选就职。新政府建立了内阁档案的编制与分发流程，并在州长与内阁事务部内设立内阁办公厅作为秘书处。政府同时出台了明确的档案编制规范，并确立了通过呈件（submission）将议题提交内阁审议的制度，该制度详细规定于《内阁手册》（详见档案编号VPRS 11953）。

许多需内阁审议的议题均通过内阁呈件（Cabinet Submission）提交。呈件原则上需于审议会议召开前12天提交（尽管该时限常被延误），并于会前分发至全体内阁成员。关于内阁呈件的相关档案详见VPRS 11944《内阁与内阁委员会呈件》。
每次内阁会议的议程均由议会秘书协同内阁办公厅编制，并于会前数日分发。内阁办公厅会就部分需内阁审议的议题，向州长提交书面简报。本系列档案即涵盖1982年至1992年的会前简报文件（VPRS 11951）。部分内阁部长也可能收到其所在部门官员提供的额外简报。

在本系列档案覆盖的时期内，官员不得列席内阁会议。内阁议会秘书会记录内阁决策，并编制每次会议的内阁会议纪要（Cabinet Record），纪要对会议决议进行汇总。每份内阁会议纪要均经州长审批后，分发至全体部长。原始档案留存于内阁议会秘书办公室，并在本系列覆盖的时期内最终装订成册（详见VPRS 11948）。
内阁办公厅还需依照1982年《信息自由法》第10条的规定，维护内阁决策登记册（详见VPRS 11949）。该登记册与内阁会议纪要为独立文件，其内容需经州长审批。

内阁议程与会前简报文件
本系列档案包含内阁办公厅留存的、会前提交给州长的各类文件，分为两类：内阁会议议程，以及致州长的会前简报。每次内阁会议对应一份或多份钉装的简报文件束，议程副本置于文件束顶部。
部分会议的议程已缺失，这表明对应会议的文件内容可能不完整。

议程编制
内阁议会秘书协同内阁办公厅与州长，编制每次内阁会议的议程。
每项议程均编有序号，并列明负责该议题的部长姓名（其中“P”代表州长）。若该议程议题已提前分发相关呈件，则同时标注呈件编号。“接收日期”栏标注内阁办公厅收到内阁呈件的日期，或是该议题首次提交内阁审议的会议日期、内阁会议编号及议程序号。

会前简报文件
内阁办公厅会就部分需内阁讨论的议题，向州长提供额外简报。部分简报仅寥寥数语，部分则为详尽的正式简报文件。
在1982年至1992年间，会前简报主要用于以下场景：
- 向州长通报未提交内阁呈件的议题；
- 说明州长与内阁事务部是否认为某提案在提交内阁前已得到充分审议；
- 就特定行动方案可能带来的政治影响作出预警；
- 当州长与内阁事务部对某呈件的建议持不同意见时，向州长提供相关建议。
仅部分内阁议程议题会配套简报文件。部分内阁会议文件中还包含一份致州长的备忘录，汇总所有配有简报的议程议题。

缺失文件
部分会议的议程与简报文件已缺失，其中包括1982年4月工党政府首届内阁会议的相关文件，该批档案在移交至公共档案馆时已佚失。