[2] Members of the Executive Council are referred to as Councillors and are entitled to the style 'The Honourable' for life.

[2][5] There is no provision for such membership to come to an end, but only those Ministers in the current ministry who are invited to take part in meetings are in practice actually involved in Council activities.

Sheil was sworn in as an Executive Councillor but, prior to the scheduled swearing-in of the Ministry, he made public statements about apartheid that were at odds with the government's attitude to the issue.

In practice, meetings will only be attended by a small number of Councillors rather than the full Cabinet.

In a parallel manner to the Royal Assent given to legislative Acts by the Governor-General after they have passed both Houses of Parliament, proposed executive actions will receive the approval of the Governor-General in Council after they have been agreed to by the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

[2] An example of a Federal Executive Council meeting which the Governor-General presided over was the meeting on 11 September 2022, when the Executive Council advised the Governor-General David Hurley to proclaim Charles III as the new head of state of Australia.