About cabinet records
Cabinet records are created, controlled and circulated under the Cabinet Office's direction and supervision to authorised recipients only (mainly Ministers and their immediate divisions).
Cabinet records include:
- Cabinet agendas
- Cabinet minutes
- Cabinet committee agendas and minutes
- Cabinet committee reports
- memoranda to the Cabinet
- draft bills
- records of Cabinet decisions, and advice, legal and other, relating to Cabinet matters
- Cabinet Notebooks
- Cabinet Office files (containing original submissions, briefing papers and decisions).
Departmental Cabinet-in-Confidence records
Departmental Cabinet-in-Confidence (CiC) records are created and maintained by departments or agencies within the Minister's portfolio and forwarded to the Minister. Departmental CiC records include submissions, memos and correspondence, which have been passed to the Minister from an agency.
Some original departmental CiC records are classified as having permanent value and are required as State Archives.
See PROS 07/01 Common Administrative Functions RDA for information about cabinet record classes and retention periods.
Managing Departmental CiC records
Departments are required to create, manage and transfer their CiC records digitally. See IM-STD-06 Cabinet in Confidence and Caretaker Period Digital Information Management for further information.
Please also refer to Cabinet Office for general advice regarding the management of CiC records.
Annual and Caretaker CiC records transfers
Departments are responsible for regularly transferring permanent Cabinet-in-Confidence (CiC) records to PROV, including those created by affiliated portfolio agencies, entities and statutory bodies.
Permanent CiC records must be converted into VERS Encapsulated Objects (VEOs) and transferred to PROV annually and via the Cabinet Office during Caretaker.
The below diagram provides an overview of the processes for undertaking Departmental CiC annual and Caretaker records transfers.
Key Messages
Cabinet-in-Confidence (CiC) records must be managed digitally and transferred to PROV annually and during Caretaker in accordance with IM-STD-06 Cabinet in Confidence and Caretaker Period Digital Information Management.
CiC records and associated metadata must be identified by departments as permanent or temporary in accordance with PROS 07/01 RDA for Common Administrative Functions and managed in a way that supports the separation of permanent from temporary.
Permanent records and associated metadata must be converted into VERS Encapsulated Objects (VEOs) by departments prior to transfer to PROV.
In addition to transferring their own CiC records, departments are responsible for transferring CiC records from any affiliated portfolio agencies, entities and statutory bodies.
Temporary records must not be transferred to PROV.
PROV Resources
Please refer to the following advice regarding transferring CiC records PROV:
- Separating permanent CiC records from temporary CiC records which will help you to identify records that must be transferred to PROV and records that must not.
- Transferring CiC records to PROV for information on transferring permanent records to PROV annually and via Cabinet Office during Caretaker.
- Converting CiC records into VEOs for information on converting permanent CiC records into VERS Encapsulated Objects (VEOs) for transfer to PROV
- Accessing transferred CiC records which outlines the rules for accessing CiC records in PROV custody.
Additional Information
Please also refer to:
• Department of Premier and Cabinet’s Advice to 'Cabinet, Liaison and Legislation Officers— Management of Cabinet in Confidence material during Caretaker' when transferring records during Caretaker.
• 'IM-STD-06 Cabinet in Confidence and Caretaker Period Digital Information Management' which outlines the requirements for departments to manage CiC records digitally and undertake regular transfers.
If you have a question on PROV specific matters, please contact us via our online enquiry form.