Austrian Report
for the Annual Meeting of ENOC
Brussels, 2-4 of October 2002
Introduction
By way of introduction, the “ombudsoffices”
of the nine Austrian federal provinces (states) have determined that there are
indeed good approaches for improving the living situation of children and youth
in Austria, but these are based first and foremost on self-initiative and
involvement by NGOs and private individuals. As a result of diverse saving
measures by the federal government and state governments, an intensification of
the general social situation is perceivable. This also has an effect on the
whereabouts of Austrian children and youth, whereby austerity measures are also
effected, among other things in the training and education system, and in the
framework of the youth welfare services sphere (through a slow down and/or
stoppage of the necessary expansion of social services such as crisis centres
for children and youth, suitable residential housing, and many other things).
In the past two years it has become clear that the current federal
government is more and more frequently foregoing the opinion and inclusion of
experts in matters of legal changes which also concern children and youth. In
particular, an intensified collaboration with and integration of
non-governmental organisations in the implementation of the UN “Committee on
the Rights of the Child” (CRC) is more than ever necessary for this reason!
In deference to the concluding observations pertaining to the Committee
on Rights of the Child: Austria 07/05/99; CRC /C/15/Add.98., criticism must be
rendered that there still isn’t any government agency – neither on the
federal level nor on the state level – which has a clear mission for the
co-ordination and monitoring of the implementation of the UN Children’s Rights
convention. Furthermore, we endorse the committee’s demand to implement
measures which ensure effective co-ordination and monitoring of activities at
all levels (federal, state and communities) which are in connection with the
implementation of the agreement.
A)
Topics which move us
1)
Family Reunion
In Styria, more and more
incidents have been disclosed in which foreign children and youth have been
fetched later in the course of family reunion by their hardly known or
absolutely unknown parents who have lived in Austria for many years. As a
consequence of various attendant circumstances (new/strange stepmother/father,
new/strange stepbrothers and stepsisters, cramped living situation, foreign
culture, and much more), living together turned out to be so difficult that the
father/mother decided to send the children – against their will – back to
their home country. Attempts to enable a further stay in Austria failed – not
the least on account of the few youth welfare service support possibilities.
2)
Unaccompanied
juvenile refugees
The situation with regard
to unaccompanied juvenile refugees in Austria is still unsatisfactory. Because
there are still ca. 1000 juvenile refugees per year living under sickening
circumstances – in idleness, uncertainty, fear, resignation, speechlessness,
and above all in isolation. Neither school attendance nor a meaningful activity,
neither a daily structure nor adequate juvenile accommodations are provided. The
federal government (Interior Ministry) and the states (youth welfare agencies)
have been arguing out their jurisdictional dispute on the backs of these
“especially in-need-of-protection” youngsters for over 10 years; i.e., the
existing concepts pertaining to an integration of these juveniles as defined by
human rights precepts are not being implemented. Of course, clearing agencies
for "initial assimilation and initial support of juvenile refugees"
have been established in the meantime; however, their continued existence has
not been clarified. Negotiations pertaining to the jurisdiction for the umF
between the federal government and the states have faltered at the civil servant
level in June 2002 on account of the cost factor. Unfortunately, a speedy
agreement cannot be anticipated at present.
Juveniles are still
occasionally being taken into custody prior to expulsion, age determinations are
being made by means of carpal X-rays, juveniles are accommodated in very remote
locations, and juveniles must endure asylum proceedings which are contrary to
human rights precepts.
This means that the unsatisfactory condition
persists, and thus the right of juvenile refugees to special protection and
assistance through the contracting states (UN-CRC Art. 10, 22, 39, among others)
is by no means guaranteed.
3)
Involvement
of children and youth in topics which concern them
In some cities,
municipalities, schools, youth centres, holiday programmes, ... involvement of
children and youth is being fostered and expanded in exemplary fashion. On the
whole, this trend is only being developed very slowly, because “having to much
say” (involvement and participation) is actually not desired in Austria.
Voting
age reduction at the municipal level from 18 to 16 years
Nevertheless, the voting
age in the federal states of Carinthia and Styria has been reduced at the
municipal level from 18 to 16 years.
On 17 March 2002 juveniles
in a very small Styrian municipality were called upon for voting. Fortunately,
turnout reached nearly 100 %. Unfortunately, this can only be seen as
representative, because the mobilisation of juveniles is easier in small
townships than in cities. Now that the initiative has emerged from the political
sphere, in the future we anticipate perceptible measures with regard to the
young voting segment. Otherwise the political sphere will lose yet another
portion of their credibility among juveniles.
4)
Legal
and psychosocial procedural accompaniment
In nearly all federal
states there is free legal counsel for juvenile victims of violence. These
lawyers support, accompany and represent the concerned juveniles in legal
proceedings. In the meantime, the Federal Ministry of Justice is promoting the
psychosocial and legal accompaniment of victims. However, at present this model
of support is still completely inadequate, and in financial terms favours
juridical legal counsel (lawyers) vis-à-vis psychosocial procedural
accompaniment. At present, psychosocial procedural accompaniment can only be
taken advantage of in a few regions by means of child protection centres or
advisory centres.
Of course, the ministries
are also considering how psychosocial victim accompaniment can be supported
financially; however, the objective and the backgrounds pertaining to these
developments are not completely transparent yet.
The ombudsoffices are
still demanding the expansion of Austrian offerings, for instance as per the
Swiss model.
Emergency
relief fund (sofHi Vienna)
An emergency relief fund
is being administered via the Vienna ombudsoffice, which is nurtured on the one
hand from government funds and on the other hand from private donations.
Juvenile victims of violence thus have the possibility of being able to rapidly
take advantage of free psychotherapeutic assistance.
Psychosocial
procedural accompainment in Styria
Based on the existing
deficits with regard to the support of juvenile victims of violence, the kija
steiermark [Styrian ombudsoffice for children and youth], together with
various unappropriated bodies and the State of Styria, has organised extended
vocational training for procedural advocates, which will be implemented in the
Autumn of 2002. The objective is to also offer the victims of violence – in
addition to free legal counsel – psychosocial accompaniment throughout the
ongoing legal proceedings. On the one hand, the procedural advocates shall
support the juveniles as fiduciary representatives, and on the other hand they
shall co-ordinate the activities of all other involved individuals and
institutions (youth welfare office, police, lawyer, judges, child protection
centres, therapists, ...) for the benefit of the victim. The objective is that
these offerings are comprehensively available in Styria for all juvenile victims
of violence.
5)
Legal
protection for juveniles, and alcohol
Fortunately, on account of
the objections of many experts (e.g. from the NGO sphere), changing the Austrian
trading ordinance was able to be prevented – and therefore the prohibition
pertaining to proprietors serving alcohol to juveniles continues to remain in
the legal code. If this legal amendment would have been implemented, the
consumption of alcohol would have remained prohibited, but the sale of alcoholic
drinks would have been allowed. We have perceived this as an attempt to make it
easier for the adults (= owners of restaurants, bars, pubs, ...), and to
relinquish any responsibility to the juveniles.
Exchange of
information by experts via e-mail
A new form of information
exchange has been worked out on the expert level since May 2002. The Alcohol
Co-ordination and Information Office is co-ordinating an “e-mail working
group”, which prepares well-founded practical and theoretical proposal
throughout Austria. These proposals for dealing with prevention and repression
with regard to the consumption of alcohol shall be submitted to the Federal
Ministry for Social Security and Generations.
B)
Legal
amendments which move us
1)
Experiences
with the new (vehemently discussed) Children’s Legal Amendment Law (valid
since 1 July 2001)
End
of forced sterilisation
On a positive note, it
must be mentioned that the since the amendment of the Children’s Legal
Amendment Law the previous possibility of the forced sterilisation of mentally
handicapped juveniles with the approval of the parents is no longer possible –
which takes into account the right of sexuality for people with special needs.
Mutual
parental care
Unfortunately, there is
still no statistical basis regarding the effects of the introduction of the
possibility for mutual parental care. A variety of varying experiences have been
made on a state-wide level; there is also a considerable city-state
differentiation. What is conspicuous is that many parents only concern
themselves with the subject of parental care whatsoever in the course of divorce
proceedings. In the first months there were ca. 250 petitions for mutual
parental care and only one petition for abrogation.
Visitation
accompaniment
One can positively assess
the possibility of the judicial arrangement of visitation accompaniment.
However, in practice it has been shown that there are fundamentally not enough
offers, although the need for initiating visits, visiting rights, consultation
and mediation is quite considerable. Moreover, there is no lack of a
specification and differentiation with regard to the existing offer, since not
every child/youth requires the same form of support.
On the other hand, it must
be considered that not all offers are recommended or exploited.
Involvement
of youth in proceedings
Children and youth should
be more stringently listened to in legal proceedings with the enforcement of the
Children’s Legal Amendment Law (1 July 2002). Theoretically, this amendment is
thoroughly familiar, but in practice the consultation of children and youth is
only inadequately implemented. Furthermore, we criticise the length of
proceedings if expert opinions must be obtained – and in addition, the lack of
corresponding quality criteria for expert involvement is to be criticised in
this context. There are major problems with regard to amicable divorces, because
many judicial officers are not able to cope with regard to the consultation of
youngsters.
2)
Dissolution
of the Vienna Juvenile Court of Justice
At present there is a law
under consideration which foresees that the internationally recognised and
proven model of the Vienna Juvenile Court of Justice shall be modified. It is
planned to apportion the jurisdiction of Vienna Juvenile court of Justice judges
– partially to the jurisdiction of district judges, and partially to the
jurisdiction of criminal judges. And thus a local modification would be linked
with this. It is feared that the affected juvenile criminals will no longer have
access to the proven multi-professional and preventive social treatment
(exemplary collaboration between court, social work, probation assistance,
therapy, ...), and that this will have negative effects on the rehabilitation of
juveniles.
3)
Further
savings in the educational realm
The federal government and
state governments are still paring down appropriation value units to schools,
which leads to cutbacks in educational offerings. And so projects, non-binding
exercises and school experiments are being restricted and/or terminated, and
teaching jobs are being cut back. Many children who have special remedial
educational needs are no longer – or to a lesser extent – receiving such
support, and as a result, children of foreigners partially do not have enough
opportunities to be commensurately fostered with regard to language. On the
whole, the willingness (or lack thereof) of the responsible politicians has
unfortunately curbed Austria’s relatively good standing in the Pisa Study.
4)
Deletion
of the “homosexual paragraphs”
The long-criticised § 209
of the Strafgesetzbuch [StGB,
penal code] in reference to “supposed” protection of juvenile homosexuals
has finally been repealed effective August 2002.
However, § 207b StGB has
been adopted, which has the objective of protecting juveniles of either sex
against sexual abuse up to the age of 16. Only after quite some time will the
practical experiences show whether this provision is meaningful.
C)
Isolated
cases which move us
All of Austria’s
ombudsoffices are still handling isolated cases which are submitted personally,
telephonically, by means of correspondence or per e-mail.
On the one hand, the
isolated cases are important to us as a means of orientation (which
topics currently deal with children and youth?), and are on the other hand
necessary as a means of support for our argumentation (based
on our work, we know that children and youth (and their parents) have the
following needs with regard to education, leisure activity, school, contact,
financial support, involvement, ...!).
Increase
of e-mail contacts
More and more youth are
contacting various advisory agencies per e-mail. This offer, whereby one can be
“more anonymous” than via telephone, seems to comply with the needs of many
youngsters. However, in practice this reveals difficulties, since there is
partially not enough precise information/background/facts mentioned in the
initial e-mail, and thus a serious response is made more difficult. The offer to
actually telephone with one another or to send e-mail once again is hardly
accepted by youngsters. Therefore it frequently remains open as to whether the
advisor’s response was sufficient or helpful enough.
kija
ambassadors, kija scouts, kija homepage, ...
As a result of targeted
advertising media (postcards, placards, flyers, stickers, homepage, ...) for
13-18 year-olds and intensified visits to schools (ca. 14-15 year-olds), the
inquiries from children and youth are increasing. Whereupon we must ascertain
whether we are able to reach the youngsters merely with equitable advertising
media in keeping with the times.
D)
Projects
which move us
1)
Mediative
pedagogy / school mediation /social learning
Based on the increasingly
more difficult situations in the schools and classes, we are asked more and more
often about what we would recommend, for instance regarding improvement of the
classroom atmosphere. In contrast to the performance-oriented trend in
Austria’s school policy, we recommend that parents, teachers and developmental
directors devote more time and attention to social needs, processes and
“defects” in classrooms. Based on this attempt to come to terms with such
situations we have meanwhile developed quite a few different
“school-mediative” approaches.
The Lower Austrian
Ombudsoffice, together with partners, is offering the project on mediative
pedagogy and prevention of violence, “Conflicts
are here to be solved”, to elementary schools since January 2002. The
objective is to make children sensitive to dealing with conflicts in a
non-violent manner, as well as to provide and integrate teachers and parents
with new ideas. As of April 2002, 30 schools with about 650 children from 8-10
years of age) have been reached.
In the federal states of
Carinthia, Salzburg, Tyrol and Styria, various school mediation projects have
been initiated in specific schools in co-operation with ombudsoffices, and in
turn these projects are transferred after an assimilation phase of ca. ½ year
to the coaching teachers at their own responsibility. The objective of the
projects is to train students as “conflict mediators”, who are then made
available in further succession as “dispute assistants” for their colleagues
in the event of incidents. In Carinthia, a demonstration video for school
mediation was produced at a project school in the 2002 summer semester. This
video shall be presented in schools which are interested.
Recently the question has
emerged as to whether the ombudsoffices for children and youth should meddle as
mediators in internal school conflict situations in order to convey more weight
with regard to the position of students.
2)
Children’s
film festival
In June 2002 a two-day
children’s film festival was held in Lower Austria, which was presented under
the motto “Conflicts are here to be
solved”. Parallel to the film festival there was a supporting programme
which invited children to actively participate. In order to continue to motivate
children via the film medium for a positive solution of conflicts, the film
festival is also linked to a media (display) case which can be requested via the
Lower Austria Ombudsoffice for Children and Youth.
3)
NC,
National Coalition – children’s rights network
The National Coalition –
the Austrian children’s rights network – is once again strongly active, and
is accessible by contacting: irene.messinger@blackbox.net
; netzwerk_kinderrechte@yahoogroups.de
. At present the ombudsoffices for children and youth are members of the
network, whereby the situation is unclear on account of the legal construction
of the ombudsoffices for children and youth. Since the ombudsoffices for
children and youth are facilities of the respective provincial (state)
administrations, the question emerges again and again as to whether we – as a
government institution – are also allowed to be/able to be a member of an NGO
network.
E)
Some additional General Information about:
office activities,
cooperation with Government, Parliament, NGOs and Children
Between
1989 and 1995 ombudsoffices for children and youth were set up in all nine
Austrian States. In addition to the nine local offices, a federal Children’s
Ombudsperson was established in 1991. The legal principles are laid down in the
Federal and Provincial Child Welfare Legislation. The offices are funded by
public money.
The
ten ombudspersons are also the heads of their local offices. They are supported
by approximately 20 staff members (some of them part-time), lawyers,
psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers. Therefore, approximately 30
people are working on these issues for children in Austria!
The
ombudspersons are appointed by the provincial governments. They are free from
any interference from politicians and officials by virtue of a special
constitutional privilege. In most states, the term of office ends after five
years with the possibility of reappointment (in 2000, three ombudspersons were
not nominated for a second term).
The
connection between financial or employer dependence on the one hand, and
independence in terms of contents on the other, always makes political
positioning a difficult issue.
The
offices have to submit an annual report about their activities and experiences
to the provincial governments.
The
cooperation with provincial governments and parliament is correct, but of course
not all our ideas, concepts, suggestions and appeals are heard and realised (see
above).
The
relationship with the NGOs in Austria is very good and constructive. There are a
lot of common projects like the annual celebration of the “day of the child“
and joint efforts to make Children’s Rights a more popular issue. Some NGOs
and the ombudsoffices were involved in the Austrian Report of the National
Coalition for the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
(see above).
In
particular, the child and youth ombudsoffices are determined to promote or
demand the cooperation with social workers, the youth welfare agencies of the
provinces, because these often only act as an “administration” of children
and to not really defend the interests of children (e.g. foster children,
assignment to a home, right of access, ...)
All
the ombudsoffices in Austria maintain direct contact with children and young
people, whether they come to the office personally, call, write letters or
e-mails.
We
provide information and give advice, we mediate between them and the parents or
other professionals. We try to represent their interests, to find amicable
solutions. We help them to solve their problems (see case studies).
Generally, the child and youth ombudsoffices are recognised as mediators of the
concerns of children and young persons, although it should be attempted to
increase the general awareness of its services, especially among young persons.
As
the child and youth ombudsoffices are responsible for the entire province and as
the use of the services offered by them is characterised by a pronounced
town/countryside divide, some provinces are trying to regionalise the service. Networking with remote districts is a goal.
In the long term, it would be desirable to open offices in the districts, but
this presents financial problems.
