diff --git a/doc/source/charm-release.rst b/doc/source/charm-release.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8f637dc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/source/charm-release.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+.. _charm-release:
+
+Release Policy
+==============
+
+The OpenStack charm repositories are all tagged as `release:independent`; however the
+OpenStack Charms project does have a regular release cadence which makes specific demands
+on the charms in terms of development and testing.
+
+The OpenStack Charms team produces a release every 6 months aligned to the main
+OpenStack release cadence, and an interim release 3 months after each main release.
+
+To be included as part of a release, the (sub)team supporting a charm must meet the
+following release requirements:
+
+1. Support for the latest OpenStack release, if the charm release is aligned to the
+   main OpenStack release cadence; this means that supporting projects need to produce
+   supporting releases alongside the main OpenStack release.
+
+2. Charms must include functional tests to be eligible for inclusion in the official
+   OpenStack Charm release every 3 months; these are typically implemented as
+   Amulet tests within each charm.
+
+3. Charms must have an active and responsive community of developers.
+
+4. Charms should provide 3rd party CI where it's not possible to provide functional
+   testing of charms using standard OpenStack Cloud resources; examples of this might
+   include (but are not limited to) SDN and Storage integrations that rely on
+   specific vendor hardware or proprietary software.
+
+Charms which don't meet these requirements can continue to be part of the
+OpenStack Charms project, but won't form part of the official 3 monthly charm
+release.  This approach allows new charms to incubate as part of the wider
+OpenStack Charms project, with inclusion in the 3-monthly release when this
+policy is met.
+
+Charms may choose to opt-out of the co-ordinated charm release, and follow
+a more independent release approach - this may be appropriate for supporting
+charms in the wider OpenStack ecosystem which are not aligned to the main
+OpenStack release cycle.
+
+This policy is broadly based on the Charm Store 'curated charm' policy adopted
+by the wider charm community, and as such charms not meeting the OpenStack
+Charms release policy will not form part of the curated charm set on the
+Juju Charm Store.
diff --git a/doc/source/index.rst b/doc/source/index.rst
index 0c0ffab4..fe2c72e4 100644
--- a/doc/source/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/index.rst
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ with lose coupling between OpenStack Services.
    openstack-charms
    creating-charms
    how-to-contribute
+   charm-release
    find-us
    releases