M2026-02 Maintaining Confidentiality of Cabinet Documents and Other Cabinet Conventions
This Memorandum explains the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of Cabinet documents, including draft Cabinet documents.
Issued: by Premier
Key information
- Status
- Active
- Type
- Premier's Memorandum
- Identifier
- M2026-02
- Compliance
- Mandatory
- Created
- Updated
Who needs to know and/or comply with this?
- Advisory Entities (including Boards and Committees)
- Departments
- Executive agencies related to Departments
- General Government Sector
- Public Financial Corporation
- Public Non-financial Corporation
- Separate agencies
- State Owned Corporations
- Statutory Authorities/Bodies
- Subsidiaries of the NSW Government established under the Corporations Act
- ‘GSF Agencies’ as defined under the Government Sector Finance Act 2018
About
This Memorandum explains the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of Cabinet documents, including draft Cabinet documents. It provides guidance to Ministers and agencies on preserving Cabinet confidentiality, and adhering to other Cabinet conventions, to enable full and frank Cabinet discussions and support collective ministerial responsibility.
Cabinet is the central and highest decision-making institution in government. Its workings are governed by long established practice and convention.
All officers and employees, along with other stakeholders such as contractors and consultants, should be familiar with, and ensure the maintenance of, Cabinet confidentiality. Cabinet documents and draft Cabinet documents should be marked as ‘OFFICIAL: Sensitive – NSW Cabinet’, stored securely, and accessed on a need to know basis.
A convention at the core of the Cabinet system of government is the collective responsibility of Ministers for government decisions. Ministers are collectively responsible for all Cabinet decisions and must publicly support them, even if they do not personally agree with them.
The unauthorised and/or premature disclosure of Cabinet documents, including draft Cabinet documents (such as draft Cabinet submissions), undermines collective ministerial responsibility. It also undermines the convention of Cabinet confidentiality. It is therefore essential that the confidentiality of Cabinet documents, including draft Cabinet documents, is maintained to enable full and frank discussions to be had prior to Cabinet making its decision.
It is inappropriate to provide copies of, or access to, final or draft Cabinet documents to sources external to Government. It may, however, sometimes be necessary to consult with external sources in relation to matters which are the subject of proposed or current Cabinet consideration, to ensure that Cabinet is fully apprised of the relevant information required for it to make an informed decision. In that case, information about Cabinet documents should only be shared on a ‘need-to-know’ and strictly confidential basis.
A Minister's actual or proposed position in Cabinet should never be disclosed, and high-level judgement needs to be exercised in deciding what information, if any, to disclose. If it is uncertain whether Cabinet confidentiality applies to a document, Cabinet Liaison Officers within the relevant Department should be contacted in the first instance, or guidance obtained from The Cabinet Office.
The attached paper Cabinet Conventions: NSW Practice sets out in more detail the importance of maintaining Cabinet confidentiality, and key conventions concerning the function, operation and administration of Cabinet.
This Memorandum applies to Ministers, Ministerial staff, and officers and employees of entities subject to Ministerial direction and control.