Originally established on 13 March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, National Cabinet replaced the now-defunct Council of Australian Governments (COAG) as the primary intergovernmental forum on 29 May 2020, citing excessive bureaucracy and infrequent meetings.

[2] The formation of the National Cabinet was announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on 13 March 2020,[3] following a meeting of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

[10] At the heights of the pandemic (prior to the widespread rollout of COVID-19 vaccines), meetings of National Cabinet were held using secure video conferencing.

[8] However, this was later rejected in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which found that the body was not a Cabinet committee and was subject to ordinary freedom of information laws.

On 14 April 2020, Prime Minister Morrison was reported saying, "The processes we've established for the National Cabinet may prove to be a better way for our federal system to work in the future, but this will be a matter for another time", and Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said no other state leaders had objected when he had brought up the idea of continuing the National Cabinet.