At a press conference on 13 June 2025, Martin Ladstätter, Vice President of the Austrian Disability Council, Julia Moser, Chairwoman of the Independent Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and Ombudsperson Bernhard Achitz criticised planned changes to adult protection law through the Budget Accompanying Act.
Following massive criticism of the guardianship law by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2013, the adult protection law at the time was revised as part of a participatory process. The revision culminated in the adoption of the 2nd Adult Protection Act, which came into force on 1 July 2018. This strengthened the self-determination of people with disabilities who have a representative (a proxy or a representative) and brought the legal situation closer to the requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. "The process of drafting and the entry into force of the 2nd Adult Protection Act were among a few points highlighted as particularly positive by the UN Committee during the state audit in 2023," recalls Martin Ladstätter, Vice President of the Austrian Disability Council.
In autumn 2024, the Ministry of Justice set up a working group to incorporate the results of the external evaluation of the 2nd Adult Protection Act into the legal situation. This working group was dissolved by the Ministry of Justice - even before a joint decision had been reached. With the Budget Accompanying Act, changes to adult protection law are now planned that contradict the contents of the working group's discussions and result in a massive encroachment on the self-determination rights of people with disabilities.
"It is completely incomprehensible and extremely regrettable that Austria is cancelling the internationally praised process of participation and thus turning away from the principle of 'nothing about us without us'," emphasises Julia Moser, Chairwoman of the Independent Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Specifically, the Budget Accompanying Act provides for the review period for judicial adult representation to be extended from three to five years and the obligation to commission a review by an adult protection organisation to determine whether adult representation is still necessary to be removed.
"Time limits protect human rights. Extending them without good reason weakens the principle of reviewability. Furthermore, it is to be feared that judges will refrain from commissioning a clearing on a large scale and thus adult representation will be extended without a comprehensive review of its necessity," Martin Ladstätter, Vice President of the Austrian Disability Council, points out.
"The planned changes would be a step backwards and a violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It would be necessary to take precautionary measures to ensure that adult representatives do not become necessary in the first place. This is a matter for the federal states," emphasises Ombudsperson Bernhard Achitz.
The representatives of the Disability Council, the Monitoring Committee and the Ombudsman Board are in favour of removing the planned changes from the Budget Accompanying Act and returning to the path of participation in order to solve the existing challenges in a joint process.
From left to right: Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz, Martin Ladstätter from the Disability Council and Julia Moser, Chairwoman of the Independent Monitoring Committee.
Picture credits: Disability Council