74 per cent trust the Austrian Ombudsman Board
Public trust in the Austrian Ombudsman Board is very high. Three quarters of Austrians eligible to vote explicitly trust the Austrian Ombudsman Board, only one in eight do not. Only one in seven do not know the Austrian Ombudsman Board or could not/would not make a judgement of trust. The Austrian Ombudsman Board is therefore one of the institutions with the highest trust ratings. (74% "trust" minus 12% "do not trust" = balance of trust +62).
High level of trust among voters of all parties
The public perception of the organisation as a non-partisan institution, which is reflected in very high trust balances in all voter groups, must be seen as positive. The voters of those parties that have not nominated a current member of the Ombudsman Board also have great confidence in the Ombudsman Board.
Women, younger people and human rights need to catch up
"What we still need to work on is the fact that awareness and trust are below average among both women and younger people. We also need to raise public awareness of the Ombudsman Board's responsibilities," say Schwarz and Achitz. An impressive 81 per cent of respondents know that the Austrian Ombudsman Board is responsible for protecting people from misconduct at public offices and authorities, but 39 per cent also believe that the Ombudsman Board is responsible for private legal disputes in court - which is not true. Only 33 per cent know that the Ombudsman Board is responsible for the protection of human rights in institutions such as care homes and prisons.
The Ombudsman Board always works free of charge for those affected
62 per cent state that they could in principle imagine going to the Ombudsman Board with a problem. Reasons for not visiting the Ombudsman Board despite a problem are mainly a lack of information, but also suspected barriers (costs) or fear of being "exploited" by the media (especially in the case of older people). However, the survey results do not indicate any doubts about the competence of the Ombudsman Board. Schwarz and Achitz: "In future, we will emphasise more strongly that the Ombudsman Board always works free of charge for those affected and only goes public with specific individual cases at their express request."
