The tasks of the Austrian Ombudsman Board
The Austrian Ombudsman Board is an independent, state supervisory body. Its tasks are defined in the Federal Constitution and the Ombudsman Act.
Ombudsman Board supports legislators
The actual impact of laws on people's everyday lives often only becomes apparent when regulations are applied by the authorities. Sometimes burdens arise that were not intended by the legislator. The Austrian Ombudsman Board is committed to ensuring that the legislator corrects mistakes by proposing amendments to the law.
You can find an overview of its legislative recommendations in the Ombudsman Board's annual report.
Citizen-centred - free of charge - independent.
Anyone can turn to the Austrian Ombudsman Board. There are no costs involved in dealing with a complaint. The Ombudsman Board investigates every admissible complaint. If maladministration is found, it informs about the result of the investigation and urges its remedy. The Ombudspersons exercise their office independently.
Protection and promotion of human rights
The Austrian Ombudsman Board is also the "House of Human Rights" and has the task of protecting and promoting the observance of human rights in Austria within the framework of a UN mandate. Together with its commissions, the Ombudsman Board monitors all institutions in which freedom is deprived or restricted. It also inspects facilities for people with disabilities and the exercise of direct command and coercive power by the administration, i.e. the work of the police, particularly during deportations and demonstrations.
Common European Asylum System (CEAS)
The reformed EU Pact on Asylum and Migration requires all Member States to establish an independent monitoring mechanism. This is intended to ensure that, during the new screening and asylum border procedures at the EU’s external borders, fundamental rights, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the principle of non-refoulement under international law (the prohibition on deportation to a situation of danger) are fully respected. In particular, the independent monitoring mechanism monitors whether access to the asylum procedure is guaranteed, whether the best interests of the child are taken into account, and whether detentions are compatible with the requirements of EU and international law. Should there be substantiated allegations of human rights or fundamental rights violations, it is the task of the monitoring mechanism to investigate these effectively and without delay and to ensure that investigations are initiated where necessary.
In mid-June 2026, the constitutional legislature entrusted the Ombudsman’s Office with this task.
Settlement of pensions of victims of children's homes
The Ombudsman Board also chairs the independent Pension Commission. The Pension Commission assesses applications for the award of a pension to victims of children’s homes in accordance with the Pensions for Victims of Children’s Homes Act (HOG). It is responsible for those persons who have not yet been recognised as victims of violence and who suffered violence in a home, foster family or in an infirmary, psychiatric institution or sanatorium between 1945 and 1999. The same applies to persons who were victims of an act of violence in a private institution, provided the referral was made by a child and youth welfare institution.