In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powers, including general responsibility for the entire civil service.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison established a position entitled Cabinet Secretary in August 2019 within the Prime Minister's Office responsible for cabinet operations and appointed a former senior political adviser and intelligence official Andrew Shearer to the role.
[3] Australia's states and territories have equivalent officials In Canada the equivalent position is the Clerk of the Privy Council, who functions as Deputy Minister to the prime minister of Canada and heads the Privy Council Office.
Canada's provinces and territories also have equivalent officials as the head of their respective public services, as in the list below: The Cabinet Secretariat is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister.
The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing/ad hoc Committees of Secretaries.
In Ireland the position of Cabinet Secretary is officially titled Secretary-General to the Government (previously titled Secretary to the Government), and is concurrently Secretary-General of the Department of the Taoiseach, somewhat analogous to the Cabinet Office in the United Kingdom.
[4] In Japan the office of Chief cabinet secretary has been made into a ministerial post, being held by a member of the House of Representatives.
The office of Cabinet Secretary is somewhat anomalous, by New Zealand standards, in that it is partly autonomous from the department to which it belongs.
The role is currently occupied by Sir Chris Wormald, appointed in December 2024 following the resignation of Simon Case.
The post is appointed by the prime minister with the advice of the out-going Cabinet Secretary and the First Civil Service Commissioner.
In most cases the true influence of the Cabinet Secretary extends far beyond administrative matters, and reaches to the very heart of the decision-making process.
The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for overseeing the intelligence services and their relationship to the government, though since 2002 this responsibility has been delegated to a full-time role (initially as Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator, now the Head of Intelligence, Security and Resilience working to the National Security Adviser), with the Cabinet Secretary focussing on civil service reforms to help deliver the government's policy programme.
[10] It reverted back to the original names from 2018 to 2024 under Mark Drakeford, before returning to the cabinet secretary titles under Vaughan Gething.
In Hong Kong there is a politically appointed Director of the Chief Executive's Office, as well as a Permanent Secretary who is a civil servant.
The salary level was set as the same as other Permanent Secretaries, i.e. Point 8 of the Directorate Pay Scale, aka the D8 rank.
Unlike other countries, the Clerk of the Executive Council is a separate position, filled by an administrative officer of the D2 rank.
The Cabinet Secretary is called Sekretaris Kabinet in Indonesian language, usually act as one of the President's spokesperson.
The Secretary to the Cabinet was appointee of the Governor General, in consultation with the Public Service Commission and the Prime Minister at the time.
The position was retained after Kenya became a republic and elevated to Secretary to the cabinet and Head of Public Service, appointed by the President.