A Cabinet Secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a Cabinet of Ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powers, including general responsibility for the entire civil service.
The title of Cabinet Secretary may also be used as an alternative term for a politically appointed cabinet minister, derived from Secretary of State - the formal title for ministers. This naming convention is used in Japan, Kenya, Scotland and the United States.
In Australia, the equivalent position is the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, although both the Department and its secretary have wider responsibilities than in most other governments derived from the Westminster System.
The Cabinet Secretary was a former title conferred on an Australian minister responsible for assisting the Prime Minister to manage the day-to-day procedural and operational matters of the Cabinet and any Cabinet committees. As per all other ministers in the Westminster system, the Cabinet Secretary was a sitting member of Parliament, chosen by the Prime Minister and officially appointed by the Governor-General. The Cabinet Secretary was a portfolio minister of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and existed at various stages between 2007 and 2017, when the position was abolished.