Universal Periodic Review

Continue to harmonise the national legislation against discrimination in order to ensure protection from all forms of discrimination, including on the basis of age, religion and belief, as well as sexual orientation and gender identity

Proponent:

Remarks to progress by Liga (last modified Apr 1, 2025):

It should be noted that in Austria, both the development and implementation of measures to combat discrimination have been driven forward in close cooperation with various civil society organisations. However, it must be noted that the public discourse often focuses on so-called „immigrant anti-Semitism“ and thus accuses people with migration experience from Turkey and Arabic-speaking countries in particular of anti-Semitism across the board. However, there is a lack of clear responsibility at federal level to combat anti-Black racism, anti-Muslim racism and racism in general. Few concrete measures have been taken so far. There is a lack of targeted awareness-raising measures that address discrimination against people with disabilities and limited abilities as well as aspects of self-empowerment and human rights. There is still no standardised and comprehensive legal protection against discrimination in Austria. Austrian equality law is still characterised by a discriminatory hierarchy of grounds for discrimination. When it comes to access to goods and services, federal law (which is applicable in the majority of all cases) only provides protection against discrimination on the basis of disability, ethnicity and gender – but not on the basis of age, religion and belief or sexual orientation. Furthermore, there is no comprehensive protection against discrimination based on all grounds of discrimination in the area of education. Similarly, there is no comprehensive protection against discrimination in a number of areas of social protection.    There is no explicit legal protection against intersectional discrimination and discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression or gender characteristics. The anti-discrimination laws and the respective equality bodies at federal and state level are organised very differently, which makes access to justice more difficult.
Those affected by discrimination usually have to take legal action individually. The amounts of damages awarded in practice are low and there is a lack of effective statutory minimum compensation and injunctive relief. A collective action as a collective legal protection instrument only exists in cases of discrimination on the basis of disability.
The current government programme 2025-2029 does not provide for the elimination of these inequalities in discrimination protection https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/bundeskanzleramt/die-bundesregierung/regierungsdokumente.html   As part of the government plan 2025-2029, the federal government is pursuing this goal through close cooperation with all stakeholders (see government plan 2ß025-2029: https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/bundeskanzleramt/die-bundesregierung/regierungsdokumente.html).There is still no standardised and comprehensive legal protection against discrimination in Austria. Austrian equality law is still characterised by a discriminatory hierarchy of grounds for discrimination.    There have recently been selective amendments to the law against age discrimination, for example in the area of lending. However, there is still no comprehensive ban on discrimination in access to goods and services on the basis of age, religion and belief and sexual orientation (protection exists in federal law, which in the majority of cases only applies on the basis of disability, ethnicity and gender. Furthermore, there is no comprehensive protection against discrimination based on all grounds of discrimination in the area of education. Similarly, there is no comprehensive protection against discrimination in a number of areas of social protection. The current government programme 2025-2029 does not provide for the elimination of these inequalities in discrimination protection (see government programme: https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/bundeskanzleramt/die-bundesregierung/regierungsdokumente.html).   In summary, civil society appeals to the federal government to pursue a policy that focuses on the promotion rather than the restriction of fundamental and human rights. The involvement of civil society expertise is considered essential (see Open Letter: https://archiv2022.asyl.at/de/info/news/offenerbriefandiebundesregierung/index.html). While there are political strategies against anti-Semitism, there is no comparable approach to anti-Muslim racism. Instead, measures are taken that lead to prejudgements against people perceived as Muslim. The establishment of the Documentation Centre for Political Islam and Operation Luxor reinforce a general suspicion of Muslims and lead to people withdrawing from social discourse, a reduction in diversity of opinion and restrictions on participation. Freedom of opinion, freedom of the press, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly can be restricted on the basis of membership of a particular group, which has a negative impact on basic democratic principles (Website of the Federal Chancellery – Documentation Centre for Political Islam: https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/bundeskanzleramt/nachrichten-der-bundesregierung/2020/integrationsministerin-raab-dokumentationsstelle-politischer-islam-nimmt-arbeit-auf.html).   As part of the Government Plan 2025-2029, the Federal Government is pursuing this goal through close cooperation with all stakeholders (see Government Plan 2ß025-2029: https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/bundeskanzleramt/die-bundesregierung/regierungsdokumente.html).In July 2021, the „anti-terror package“ was passed in Austria, but this raised concerns from civil society organisations and UN experts. In particular, it was feared that the paragraph on „religiously motivated extremist connections“ could stigmatise Muslims (see Terrorism Prevention Act – TeBG (849 d.B.): https://www.parlament.gv.at/gegenstand/XXVII/I/849).   Despite concerns, law enforcement agencies used facial recognition technologies without a clear legal basis, resulting in potential discrimination against gender and ethnic minorities and interference with the rights to privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. Racial profiling by the police continued to be practised and effective mechanisms to investigate these practices were lacking (see Human Rights Situation in Austria 2022, Amnesty International Austria: https://www.amnesty.at/themen/menschenrechte-in-oesterreich/menschenrechtslage-in-oesterreich-2022-amnesty-jahresbericht/). The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities entered into force in Austria on 1 July 1998 in order to protect and promote the rights of national minorities. The current report of the Secretariat of the Framework Convention emphasises that Austria is continuing its efforts to safeguard the rights of national minorities. Despite a significant increase in funding for national minorities to almost 8 million euros in 2021 and the adoption of new laws to combat hate speech and violent hate crimes, challenges remain, particularly in minority language education and in the area of mutual respect and intercultural dialogue.   In contrast, there is no clear responsibility at federal level to combat anti-black racism, anti-Muslim racism and racism in general. Little action has been taken, particularly with regard to awareness-raising measures against discrimination against people with disabilities and limited abilities, as well as promoting self-empowerment and human rights.