General Principles and Challenges of Public Administration Organization in Austria

This chapter provides an overview of the Austrian administration, focusing on bodies at the federal, state and municipal levels. Furthermore, it elucidates the guiding principles of the administration, which can essentially be derived directly from the Federal Constitution. Subsequently, it also refers to current and future developments related to right to information and transparency issues. Austria is one of the few countries that continues to provide official confidentiality under the Federal Constitution. The abolition of official confidentiality and the possible right to information have long been part of political discourse. This topic is currently back on the agenda, and will likely trigger significant changes.

KEYWORDS Austria, public administration, Federal Constitution, principles of administration, Federal administration, State administration, Municipal administration, administrative bodies, right to information, official confidentiality, transparency