Core document forming part of the reports of the State Parties Austria [December 2016] CONTENTS I. General Information About Austria ................................................................................... 5 A. Geographical, historical, demographic, social, cultural, economic and judicial characteristics ................................................................................................................ 5 1. Geographical description ......................................................................................... 5 2. Historical background .............................................................................................. 5 3. Demographic characteristics .................................................................................... 5 4. Social and cultural indicators ................................................................................. 12 5. Economic indicators ............................................................................................... 26 6. Judiciary and crime statistics ................................................................................. 30 7. Other characteristics ............................................................................................... 32 B. Constitutional, political and legal structure of the state .............................................. 33 1. Federal executive power ........................................................................................ 33 2. Democracy and electoral system............................................................................ 34 3. Federalism .............................................................................................................. 38 4. Municipalities and other self-governing bodies ..................................................... 38 5. Rule of law and jurisdiction ................................................................................... 38 6. Membership of the European Union ...................................................................... 41 7. Recognition of non-governmental organisations – NGOs ..................................... 41 II. General Legal Framework for Human Rights Protection ................................................ 42 A. Acceptance and ratification of main international and regional human rights agreements .................................................................................................................. 42 1. Fundamental international human rights agreements ............................................ 42 2. Other United Nations human rights and related conventions ................................ 46 3. Conventions of the International Labour Organization ......................................... 47 4. Conventions of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization .......................................................................................................... 49 5. Conventions of the Hague Conference on Private International Law ................... 49 6. Geneva Conventions and other treaties on international humanitarian law........... 49 7. Regional human rights conventions ....................................................................... 50 B. Legal framework for the protection and promotion of human rights at the national level ............................................................................................................... 52 1. All essential human rights are constitutionally guaranteed rights ......................... 52 2. Legal remedies to ensure the protection of human rights ...................................... 56 3. Other state bodies competent to protect human rights ........................................... 57 4. Non-governmental organisations ........................................................................... 62 2 5. Human rights education ......................................................................................... 62 6. National dissemination of human rights instruments ............................................. 63 C. Reporting process at national level ............................................................................. 63 III. Information on Non-Discrimination and Equality ........................................................... 64 A. Legislation and effective remedies ............................................................................. 64 1. Legislation .............................................................................................................. 64 2. Effective remedies.................................................................................................. 65 B. Government activities ................................................................................................. 65 1. Women’s rights and gender equality ..................................................................... 65 2. Rights of persons with disabilities ......................................................................... 66 3. Tackling of economic and social disparities .......................................................... 67 4. Educational measures ............................................................................................. 68 5. Health care ............................................................................................................. 68 6. Long-term care (Pflegegeld) .................................................................................. 68 7. Integration .............................................................................................................. 69 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Population by sex ......................................................................................................... 6 Table 2: Population by major age groups in % .......................................................................... 6 Table 3: Population development since 2012 by Länder and components of change ............... 7 Table 4: Births and deaths .......................................................................................................... 8 Table 5: Population by selected citizenship ............................................................................... 8 Table 6: Naturalisation and rate of naturalisation .................................................................... 10 Table 7: Colloquial languages .................................................................................................. 10 Table 8: Private households and families 2015 ........................................................................ 11 Table 9: Religious affiliations .................................................................................................. 11 Table 10: Life expectancy and infant mortality ....................................................................... 12 Table 11: BMI by sex 2006/07 and 2014 in % (age-standardised) .......................................... 12 Table 12: Deaths since 1970 by causes of death ...................................................................... 14 3 Table 13: Statistics for notifiable infectious diseases, final annual report 2016 ‐ status as at 30.04.2017 ............................................................................................................................ 17 Table 15: Pupils by type of school ........................................................................................... 18 Table 16: Educational achievement of adult population (25 to 64 years), by gender and level of educational achievement in % ..................................................................................... 19 Table 17: People with reading and language difficulties ......................................................... 20 Table 18: Employment and unemployment rates by age and sex in 2014 ............................... 20 Table 19: Employment by economic activity .......................................................................... 21 Table 20: European indicators on social inclusion in Austria 2010 to 2015 ............................ 23 Table 21: Social expenditure to GDP ratio 2010 to 2014 ........................................................ 24 Table 22: Overview of social expenditure by functions 2009 to 2014 .................................... 25 Table 23: Gross domestic product (GDP), current prices and real terms 2003 to 2011 .......... 26 Table 24: Expenditure of general government by function in %, general government, consolidated .............................................................................................................................. 27 Table 25: Government debt, annual figures ............................................................................. 28 Table 26: Development of ODA 2010 to 2014 ........................................................................ 29 Table 27: Sources of ODA funding 2014 ................................................................................. 29 Table 28: Judges and public prosecutors per 100,000 inhabitants ........................................... 30 Table 29: Victims compensated after adjudication .................................................................. 30 Table 30: Free legal aid received ............................................................................................. 31 Table 31: Government expenditure on public order and safety (in million EUR) ................... 31 Table 32: Non-appealable