New website

The Austrian Ombudsman Board has a new website. http://www.volksanwaltschaft.gv.at offers concise information on the activities of the independent control body and its members Peter Kostelka, Gertrude Brinek, and Terezija Stoisits.

"The Ombudsman Board stands for transparent administration and fair treatment of the public by the authorities. Communication with citizens is crucial. If someone has a problem with the Austrian authorities, he or she can now turn to the Austrian Ombudsman Board even more easily than in the past", says Dr. Peter Kostelka, the current chairman of the Austrian Ombudsman Board. If you want to complain about a social authority, have questions concerning building law, or problems with residence permits and visas, the new homepage offers concise information about all areas of its investigations.

Barrier-free services take the centre stage of the information portal. It includes all dates of consultation days held by one of the three Ombudspersons throughout the country and offers the possibility to submit complaints directly through the website.

Exemplary cases are presented on a regular basis as well as summaries of the weekly TV show "Bürgeranwalt" (Advocate for the people). Information about the work of the Austrian Ombudsman Board is available in English, Spanish, French, Turkish, Croatian, and Serbian.

The Austrian Ombudsman Board has been controlling Austrian public administration for more than 30 years and around 15 000 people turn to the independent Ombudspersons each year. The Ombudspersons look into complaints and launch more than 6 000 investigative proceedings every year to control whether the decisions of the authorities comply with legal requirements.