Editing Prime Minister of Australia (section)

=== Executive role ===
[[Cabinet of Australia|Cabinet]], the primary decision-making body of the executive government, is chaired by the prime minister. While the prime minister has been described as the "[[first among equals]]" of the other ministers that make up cabinet, they nevertheless wield primary influence in the body. They set the agenda and processes of cabinet meetings and have the final word where a collective decision cannot be reached. Ministers making up the cabinet are chosen by the prime minister and may be removed at any time. Additionally, the prime minister chooses the portfolio of each minister and a prime minister's resignation or dismissal leads by convention to the resignation of all other ministers.{{Sfn|Elder|Fowler|2018|pp=61–3}} The precise authority of each individual prime minister within cabinet is uncertain, as their deliberations are secret. The prime minister also has the authority  to make independent policy decisions independently from Cabinet, with such decisions colloquially called "captain's calls".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Probyn |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Probyn |date=2019-10-23 |title=Scott Morrison's captain's call inserts medevac critic Sarah Henderson as chair of human rights committee |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-23/scott-morrison-captain-call-sarah-henderson-parliament-committee/11628368 |access-date= |work=[[ABC News (Australia)]] |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-01-21 |title=Tony Abbott's 'captain's call' is Macquarie Dictionary's Word of the Year |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-21/tony-abbotts-captains-call-macquarie-dictionary-word-of-year/7104056 |access-date= |work=[[ABC News (Australia)]] |language=en-AU}}</ref> The prime minister also has significant influence in the setting of foreign policy, through their role as chair of the [[National Security Committee (Australia)|National Security Committee]], a sub-committee of cabinet whose decisions do not need to be endorsed by the cabinet as a whole.{{Sfn|Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|2022|p=42}}

The prime minister is also one of the responsible ministers for the [[Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia)|Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet]], whose tasks include general policy development across the government, inter-governmental communications, honours and symbols policy and Indigenous programmes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 December 2022 |title=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |url=https://www.directory.gov.au/portfolios/prime-minister-and-cabinet/department-prime-minister-and-cabinet |website=Directory |publisher=Australian Government}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=3 August 2023 |title=Administrative Arrangements Order |url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2022Q00008/latest/text |website=Federal Registrar of Legislation |publisher=Australia Government}}</ref>