About the CabGuide

Purpose 

The CabGuide is a new website developed by the Cabinet Office.  It provides authoritative and comprehensive information about Cabinet and Cabinet committee processes and requirements for papers.  Cabinet Office guidance about how the Cabinet system works is also an important feature of the site.

The aim of the CabGuide is to make information about Cabinet and Cabinet committee procedures and requirements for papers easier to find and use.

The CabGuide sets out the processes surrounding Cabinet decision-making that have been approved by Cabinet for Cabinet and its committees, and provides  and guidance from the Cabinet Office about how the Cabinet system works. It is designed to help departments and Ministers' offices meet Cabinet's requirements for developing and presenting proposals to Cabinet in a way that assists good decision-making.  The CabGuide complements the Cabinet Manual, which should be referred to for guidance on key constitutional and administrative principles.

The requirements set out in this guide have been approved by Cabinet.  Ministers expect that those preparing papers for Cabinet and committees will follow this guidance.  This information was previously published for use in hard copy as the Step By Step Guide to Cabinet and Cabinet Committee Procedures.  It is no longer available in hard copy, but pages can be printed from the CabGuide.

What will you find on the CabGuide website?

You will:

  • see the information you need to know when you need to know it, because it is organised by process;
  • have the choice of seeing contextual information if you are new to the public service or need to expand your knowledge; or jumping right in to see all information about your particular area of interest;
  • be able to use diagrams of processes and timelines to plan your papers;
  • find examples and wording that can be used for more straight-forward papers (such as appointment papers);
  • find links to important related information, including guidance provided by other agencies (eg, Treasury and the Ministry of Economic Development);
  • always be able to move anywhere on the site without having to go back to the home page or find your way back up menu hierarchies;
  • be able to search the site;
  • be able to print off sections that you may want to read later;
  • see changes and new content in the What's New section.

Cabinet Office is planning to make further improvements to the CabGuide, and would welcome your feedback and suggestions.  If you have feedback on the website, please contact the Cabinet Office using the Contact Us page.

For more information about the Cabinet Office, see http://www.cabinetoffice.govt.nz