Page:Australian Government Cabinet Handbook 15th edition.pdf/37

 35. The two mandatory consultation processes during the development of the submission are: 1. exposure draft

2. draft for coordination comments.

Exposure drafts

36. An exposure draft is a working draft which invites comment and suggested changes and additions to all aspects of the policy proposal under discussion. It can be circulated prior to approval by the sponsoring minister(s). It greatly assists in refining the final submission and thereby focusing the resultant Cabinet consideration.

37. While it is essentially a working document, because an exposure draft is a draft of a document that will be considered by Cabinet and formatted using the Cabinet submission template it is therefore a Cabinet document and it must be handled accordingly (see Annex H – Cabinet documentation).

38. Departments must circulate at least one exposure draft but, provided there is sufficient time, complex or contentious proposals may benefit from circulation of several exposure drafts during the development of the submission.

39. Consulted departments should use the exposure draft as an opportunity to highlight any errors of fact, areas of concern or disagreement and identify implementation challenges and risks. Authoring departments should address as many concerns and comments raised at the exposure draft stage as possible. This will reduce any areas of contention raised in formal coordination comments at the draft stage (see coordination comments on draft submissions below).

40. In the preparation of the exposure draft the authoring department should ensure the necessary impact statements have been drafted and agreed with the relevant departments/agencies.

41. The exposure draft is also an opportunity to ensure that implementation risks and challenges associated with proposals are identified and thoroughly analysed from a whole‐of‐government perspective. Authoring departments should seek feedback on the adequacy and quality of their implementation planning, particularly from the central agencies and departments or agencies with relevant expertise.

42. An implementation focus during the exposure draft process ensures that authoring departments resolve issues such as resourcing, governance and oversight prior to Cabinet consideration, as well as ensuring that unresolved issues are identified and brought to the Cabinets attention.

43. Cabinet Division uses the exposure draft to provide guidance to the authoring department on the submission's structure, format and compliance with core requirements. Particular attention is given to ensuring that the recommendations are action and decision oriented and supported by the submission's analysis.

Coordination comments on draft submissions

44. Interested departments and agencies must be given the opportunity to provide a formal comment on the submission after it has been approved by the sponsoring minister.