People who were placed in a care home as children and were victims of violence there are eligible to receive a monthly care home victims’ pension. This currently amounts to 433 euros per month. The pension is payable with immediate effect to people who are permanently unable to work. People who were able to work will receive the care home victims’ pension as soon as they reach the statutory retirement age, or as soon as they actually retire. “However, anyone who has spent their whole life doing heavy night work and is therefore able to retire earlier does not receive the care home victims’ pension,” says Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz. This is because, legally speaking, it is not a pension but a “special retirement allowance”, and this is not specifically mentioned in the Home Victims Act (HOG). Achitz: “I assume this was not intentional, but rather an oversight. I therefore call on Parliament to pass a corresponding amendment.”
Achitz expects that a large parliamentary majority will support this. Similar proposals from the Ombudsman’s Office have been implemented, such as the provision that receiving a care home victim’s pension cannot lead to a reduction in minimum income support or social assistance. The Ombudsman’s Office has already submitted the proposal to extend the law to include special retirement and transitional allowances to the National Council – see the Report for the Year 2025, p. 44 ff. On the ORF programme “Bürgeranwalt”, Ombudsman Achitz also raised this issue with the Chair of the Ombudsman’s Committee, Nikolaus Scherak.
Herbert J.: No care home victim’s pension after decades of night-shift work
In the “Bürgeranwalt” programme broadcast on 27 June, Achitz also highlighted a specific case: Herbert J. from Tyrol was placed in the so-called “Institute for the Deaf and Dumb” in Mils from 1973 to 1984. Because he was a victim of violence there, the Pension Insurance Institution (PVA) had already confirmed in principle back in 2023 that he met the requirements for a care home victim’s pension. However, the pension was not paid out because, at that time, he was neither retired nor had he reached the standard retirement age. He worked as a grinder on shift work, including night shifts. Since February 2025, however, he has been ‘retired’ and receives a special retirement allowance under the Night Work Act. He has reapplied for payment of the care home victims’ pension. However, the PVA and the Ministry of Social Affairs take the view that the special retirement allowance does not constitute a personal pension within the meaning of the Home Victims’ Pension Act. Herbert J. approached Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz, who is calling for recipients of the special retirement allowance to be explicitly included in the Home Victims’ Pension Act.
Full details on the care home victims’ pension:https://volksanwaltschaft.gv.at/fuer-heimopfer/
