Travel papers are Cabinet papers CabNet requires users to nominate the type of paper being uploaded at the start of the upload process.
The three types are General, Appointment, and Travel.
Both agency CabNet users and Ministerial office CabNet users can upload a travel paper. However, in practice, Ministerial office CabNet users will generally undertake the upload and lodge process for travel papers.
Policy papers that relate to Ministerial travel are uploaded as General papers in CabNet.
Travel papers involve two unique access arrangements in CabNet:
- at the point a travel paper is uploaded members of the Foreign Affairs Agency Portfolio Group in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade have automatic access
- at the point a travel paper minute is published members of the Ministerial Services Agency Portfolio Group in the Department of Internal Affairs have automatic access to travel paper minutes only.
For additional background information, read the sections on uploading papers into CabNet and uploading final draft papers into CabNet.
Travel paper template and additional guidance#
Refer to the section on the travel paper templates and the guidance on Ministers' overseas travel process for detailed advice.
The upload process in CabNet#
Note: The following steps in CabNet are generally completed by staff in a Minister’s office.
The upload process for travel papers involves completing a series of fields in several screens.
- Select the file.
- Select the paper from a local drive to upload. Refer to this page for information on formatting papers for CabNet upload.
- Refer below for the list of file types that can be uploaded into CabNet.
- Title, Owning portfolios/agencies.
- Edit the title of the submission to conform to the submission title conventions in CabNet - the title will appear on the meeting view, the agenda, and the summary.
- For single portfolio/agency travel papers, complete the portfolio, Owning Minister, and agency fields. Ensure these are correct, as the selections provide access to authorised users at the completion of the upload process.
- In the contact name fields, enter the names of the individuals that external parties should contact in the first instance if they have enquiries about the paper.
- Determine whether the paper is an exceptional case in relation to access.
- It is expected that the “limit access” function is used only when access to the paper needs to limited to individual users, as discussed in the section on variations to the automatic submission access provided in CabNet.
- Security classifications and endorsements.
- Select the security classification and endorsement/s in accordance with the Cabinet material guidelines and the Protective Security Requirements. Submissions with a classification of Confidential and higher cannot be uploaded into CabNet.
- Meeting type and intended meeting.
- Nominate an intended meeting type and date. Cabinet considers all travel papers.
- The meeting type and date for consideration of the paper can be updated by authorised users as the submission moves through the final draft, lodged, and confirmed on committee agenda states.
- Agency consultation.
- Proposed overseas travel papers and reports on overseas travel do not generally require inter-agency consultation.
- If consultation has occurred, the selection of agencies includes nominating the individual Agency Portfolio Group (APG) within that agency. APGs reflect the individual portfolios that the agency supports.
- Adding attachments
- Add attachments if required.
- Review and confirm
- At the completion of the process the paper is uploaded into CabNet. The presence of a paper in CabNet with a Final Draft status is confirmation that it is an approved paper - separate confirmation within CabNet that the paper has been approved by an agency is not required.
- At the point that the Final Draft paper is uploaded, authorised staff in the owning Ministers’ offices are notified and will have access to the paper.
Uploaded file types#
Uploaded Cabinet papers should be in Microsoft Word format, and attachments should be in PDF format. Powerpoint files can also be uploaded if required.
These are the file types that can be uploaded into CabNet:
- Word 2003 .doc
- Word 2007-2013 .docx
- Powerpoint 2003 .ppt
- Powerpoint 2007-2013 .pptx
- PDF Document .pdf
If the source file is not Word or PowerPoint, it should be converted into a PDF.
Uploaded file size limit#
Documents over 10MB cannot be uploaded into CabNet. This size limit avoids large files failing to display in the system. The limit also avoids large files affecting the overall operation of the system.
If an individual document intended for upload is over 5MB consider using the image-compressing functionality in Microsoft Word. For further advice on reducing file sizes for individual documents contact IT support within your agency.
Ministerial approval#
At the completion of the upload process the submission will have the status of Final Draft.
Following Ministerial consultation processes and Ministerial approval the paper can be lodged by the Minister’s office (the submission will have the status of Lodged). This completes the lodgement workflow. This page on Ministerial approval of final draft papers covers the lodgement process.
The presence of a paper in CabNet with a Lodged status is confirmation that the Minister has approved it for lodgement - separate confirmation within CabNet that the paper has been approved by a Minister is not required.