In Austria, the European Convention on Human Rights has constitutional status. Therefore, freedom of information is granted to all citizens. Nevertheless, the Austrian Constitution, in article 20(3 & 4), also requires the discretion of all official institutions and federal or state-related authorities, unless law declares special rights and conditions of access. As a result, some information is subject to official secrecy. However, specific federal and regional laws regulate that requests to official institutions and authorities must be answered, to provide transparency in state administration (Auskunftspflichtgesetze). Albeit, observers consider the Austrian legal status with regard to public information unsatisfactory. In their study on media freedom, Berka and Trappel (2019: 92) draw the conclusion that rules for access to public information are outdated, and a new law on information freedom is overdue. The Global Right to Information ranking, where Austria scored the lowest of all 128 countries in 2020, reinforces the relevance of this conclusion (RTI, 2020).
In practice, journalists expressed concern about access to public information, but admitted finding ways around the strict Austrian legal provisions. The chair of the journalists’ union pointed out that the absence of a freedom of information act impedes the work of younger journalists more often than the work of more experienced colleagues with a well-knit network of informants, also within the administration. Journalist respondents unanimously demand the release of such a freedom of information act. Some complain that the European directive on data protection has made access to public information even more difficult, as this directive provides administrations with another strong argument to keep documents secret when in doubt.
