In its place, the Freedom of Information Act (IFG) ushered in a new era—one where transparency is the rule and secrecy becomes the exception.
The new law’s supporters speak of a long-overdue “transparency revolution,” but critics warn that the devil lies in the implementation—with exemptions, patchy enforcement and the absence of oversight mechanisms still capable of blunting the law’s impact.
“The state is there for the people and not the other way around.”
The success of the IFG will hinge not just on law but on a certain mindset, according to University of Vienna legal scholar Christiane Wendehorst.
Yet the historic change is no mere legal housekeeping—it marks a sea change in Austria’s democratic fabric: For the first time, citizens gain a constitutional right to information, and public bodies are obliged to proactively disclose documents, contracts and data—not just respond to ad hoc requests.
While rooted in Habsburg dynasty traditions of administrative confidentiality, official secrecy became a defining feature of the First Austrian Republic when it was formally enshrined in the Federal Constitutional Law in 1925. It required authorities to keep most administrative information confidential unless specific grounds mandated disclosure. Austria was the last EU country to retain this level of secrecy by constitutional law.
Changing this took years of political wrangling. Initial attempts from 2013 onward failed, and it wasn’t until early 2024 that the Austrian Parliament mustered the two-thirds majority needed in both houses to abolish the secrecy clause and embed a new constitutional right to information. The legislative package also included the new IFG.
Between the law’s adoption in early 2024 and its entry into force on September 1, 2025, officials were given an 18-month preparatory window—time for training, methodological guidance and tech alignment via portals like data.gv.at, a nationwide open-government hub for public information.
The IFG rests on two pillars:
- First, a proactive publication obligation: Public institutions at the federal, state and municipal levels (for municipalities with more than 5,000 residents) must publish information of general interest—such as studies, reports, statistics and especially contracts over €100,000—on publicly accessible registers. Municipalities under 5,000 residents are exempt from proactive publishing.
- Second, the law empowers any individual—citizen, journalist, academic, etc.—to request information formally or informally, free of charge. Public bodies must respond within four weeks, extendable by another four weeks in complex cases. If they fail to do so, the requester can lodge a complaint.
Supporters herald the new law as a paradigm shift. Digitalization State Secretary Alexander Pröll put it bluntly: “The state is there for the people and not the other way around.” Previously, “everything was covered by official secrecy,” he noted, adding that in the future “nothing is covered,” while noting that “there are certain exceptions where official secrecy still applies.”
Yet watchdogs remain cautious. Reporters Without Borders Austria welcomed the new law, but warned of serious shortcomings, pointing to three main problems: exemptions for smaller municipalities, the long response deadlines and, above all, the lack of an independent body to review complaints—a gap that could blunt the press’ ability to serve as a watchdog over government.
Legal scholars emphasize the need for a cultural change in public administration. As Michael Weiner remarks (translated from German): “The Freedom of Information Act does not provide for sanctions, but ultimately relies on authorities implementing it in a manner that promotes transparency.… There’s certainly room for improvement.”
Wendehorst said: “Away from this culture of secrecy and toward a culture of transparency … we must provide concrete guidance to the bodies responsible for providing information.”
At a February 28, 2025 conference on the new IFG, experts noted that municipalities will initially face more work. But they emphasized that in other countries, proactive disclosure quickly reduces the number of individual information requests. They called for an administrative reorientation, supported by practical tools like law clinics, FAQs, training programs and partnerships with universities.
At long last, after a century of bureaucratic silence, Austria has finally stormed open the doors of statekeeping—on paper. Whether the IFG will spark a transparency revolution or settle into bureaucratic routine depends less on the legal text than on the spirit with which it is executed.
Will officials learn to think public-first? Will small towns embrace openness instead of hiding behind exemptions? As a new school year dawned on that very September 1, Austria stepped into its future—not shrouded in tradition, but bathed in daylight. Maybe that was only the first bell, with the true revolution still to come.
