Section 68 of the Constitution establishes the office of Secretary to the Cabinet, in charge of the Cabinet Office which is part of the Office of the Prime Minister. Under Section 85, in appointing the Secretary to the Cabinet, the Governor-General is required to act on the advice of the Public Service Commission.

The Secretary to the Cabinet is Head of the Public Service and reports directly to the Prime Minister.

The Cabinet Office has the principal role in the provision of advice, on a daily basis, to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on a wide range of complex issues that confront the Government, particularly its policy priorities. The Office plays a central role in coordinating and leading the work of government Ministries and agencies, and other entities as appropriate, to ensure that decision-making takes account of all relevant viewpoints and that advice is as coherent and complete as possible.

Section 68 specifically makes the Secretary to the Cabinet responsible for arranging the business for the Cabinet, for keeping the minutes of its meetings, for conveying its decisions to the appropriate person or authority and for such other functions as the Prime Minister may direct.

The Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Public Service is responsible for support to the Cabinet, its Committees and its decision-making processes, including the following functions:

1. conducting and maintaining the central decision-making procedures and process of the Cabinet;
2. providing administrative and secretariat support to the Cabinet and its Committees;
3. preparing draft agendas for the approval of the Prime Minister, as well as a forward program for Cabinet meetings;
4. providing guidelines and advice to Ministries on the preparation of Cabinet Submissions and reports, especially to ensure they are informed by appropriate evidence;
5. registering papers submitted for Cabinet consideration;
6. reviewing documents submitted to Cabinet to ensure they comply with this Manual, including use of standard formats and adequate evidence for Cabinet to make an informed decision, and where necessary advising a Ministry to redraft a submission to meet the requirements of this Manual;
7. distributing materials for Cabinet and Committee meetings;
8. attending all Cabinet and Cabinet committee meetings to facilitate and record impartially the decisions taken;
9. distributing Cabinet decisions to Ministries;
10. advice on Ministers’ conduct, public duty and potential conflicts of interests;
11. coordinating, monitoring and reporting on the implementation of Cabinet decisions;
12. preparing summary reports of Ministry performance, especially on the implementation of Cabinet decisions;
13. supervising rules on the handling of Cabinet documents;
14. maintaining the official archive of Cabinet documents including decisions and submissions;
15. establishing specific procedures, standard formats and quality standards for Cabinet submissions and reports;
16. supporting Ministries to comply with the procedures contained herein, including through support for Cabinet Liaison Officers (see below) and specific capacity building activities;
17. providing briefing and advice to the Chairs of Cabinet and Committees on the handling of matters submitted to Cabinet;
18. communicating with the Office of the Governor-General to initiate the appointment of Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries and the relevant instruments when appointments are revoked;
19. updating the Cabinet Manual to reflect changes in practice and emerging issues; and
20. other functions that the Prime Minister may assign from time to time.

The Cabinet Office is also responsible for supporting the strategic role of Cabinet in defining the medium-term priorities of the Government and supporting and tracking implementation of those priorities and other decisions of the Cabinet, and reporting to Cabinet on the progress in implementing its decisions.

Working closely with the Ministry of Finance, the Cabinet Office is the center of excellence for policy development and corporate planning, providing guidelines, templates and training for Ministry staff.

Specific strategy and policy functions of the Cabinet Office include:

1. advising the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on the Government’s Medium Term Agenda, including review of development plans and political statements, coordinating input from the Ministry of Finance and other Ministries, risk analysis and preparation of drafts;
2. reviewing the content of draft Cabinet submissions to ensure compliance with Cabinet rules on the use of evidence, analysis of options and implementation plans, as well as consultation with other Ministries;
3. where necessary assisting Ministries to prepare specific policy submissions and providing policy advice to the Prime Minister on submissions;
4. coordinating the content for Cabinet Retreats; and
5. supporting Ministries to undertake corporate planning consistent with the Government’s national priorities (such as those highlighted in the Government’s Medium Term Agenda.

The Cabinet Office is also responsible for development and supervision of a monitoring system to support and track the implementation of the Medium Term Agenda and other national planning decisions. This includes developing performance indicators on policy implementation, specifying formats for reporting implementation of decisions and national priorities, collecting performance data from Ministries, arranging surveys of users and potential beneficiaries, compiling and analyzing implementation reports and dashboards for Cabinet, the Parliament and the public, commissioning major evaluations and providing guidelines and training for Ministries on monitoring and evaluation.

In performing these monitoring functions, the Cabinet Office’s role is not just to track and report on Ministry performance, but also to provide pro-active support to Ministries to develop effective policies and to implement the decisions of the Cabinet. The Office works cooperatively with Ministries to support the Cabinet’s priorities, in some cases by convening committees or task forces established by the Cabinet to coordinate the development of complex policy proposals or to coordinate implementation and/or implementation where necessary to achieve effective coordination of complex policies. The Cabinet Office also has responsibility for the following functions:

1. Leadership development and management for the leadership level of the Public Service;
2. Succession planning;
3. Digital Transformation Agenda; and
4. Centers of Government co-ordination.

As Head of the Public Service, the Secretary to the Cabinet is responsible for coordinating Government business with Permanent Secretaries.