Forms and levels of material reception conditions

Author

Asylkoordination Österreich Visit Website

Basic Care may be provided in four different forms:^[1]

• Asylum seekers can be accommodated in reception centres where catering is provided. Asylum seekers in such reception centres receive € 40 pocket money per month, while the care provider (NGOs, private companies contracted by the Government) receives € 25 maximum compensation for the costs per day, depending on the standards of the facility. For the first time since 2016, the maximum compensation rate was increased in 2022, but in practice the change was not implemented by all provinces. In 2023, all federal states implemented the maximum compensation rate of € 25.[2]
• Basic Care can be provided in reception centres where asylum seekers cook for themselves. In that case, asylum seekers receive between € 165 and 186 per month mainly in cash (depending on the days per month and if € 6,50 or € 7 is paid per day). In Vienna, there is basically the possibility of transfers to a bank account for private residents and for those who live in reception centres.
• Basic Care can be provided for asylum seekers in private accommodation. In 2022, the monthly allowance was increased for the first time since 2016 from € 215 to € 260 (food) and for rent from €150 to € 165 (single person). Asylum seekers e.g. in Vienna, can receive € 425 (food allowance & rent money) in cash. The payments for rent allowance are different and not uniformly regulated in all federal states, as demonstrated in the table below:

Source: asylkoordination österreich, Kompetenz Netzwerk Asyl, available in German at: http://bit.ly/3liEBG8

• NGOs like Caritas, Diakonie, Volkshilfe, Tralalobe, Integrationshaus rotes Kreuz, Samariterbund and others rent private apartments where asylum seekers are housed. These are larger or smaller apartments with permanent or temporary leases, in so-called mobile assisted living (MoBeWo or MoWo). NGOs receive the same daily rate as for a regular organised facility with the difference that refugees are accommodated in apartments and not in reception centres. This is a suitable form of accommodation especially for vulnerable groups (LGBTIQ, single parents and so on) but also for families. This form of accommodation exists in all federal states, except Salzburg.[3]

The following table presents an overview on funding provided to accommodation providers, forms of accommodation possible in the province, pocket money and food allowances:

Source: asylkoordination österreich, Kompetenz Netzwerk Asyl, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Lrcwaa.

Additional information on the Federal provinces relevant to the table above include the following:

• In Lower Austria the basic daily rate is € 23 for accommodation. NGOs and all other accommodation providers have the possibility to upgrade to € 25 daily rate if additional services are chosen. If the Accommodation Provider is prepared to provide individual additional services, it shall be entitled to an additional daily rate surcharge of EUR 1 gross for each three points; however, these daily rate surcharges shall be limited to EUR 2. The Accommodation Provider may therefore charge a maximum of EUR 2 for six or more points in addition to the respective daily rate.[4] Additional services may include:
  • Transports to authorities and doctors (2 points)
  • Learning courses (e.g. computer, sewing, etc.) (1 point)
  • Recreation: organised sports (1 point)
  • Learning assistance for school children (1 point)
  • Separate prayer room (1 point)
  • Structural suitability and equipment for the disabled (2 points)
  • 1 transferable downtown monthly bus pass and/or Rail per maximum of 20 residents (2 points)
  • 1 transferable monthly bus and/or rail pass to the next city per maximum 20 residents (2 points)
  • Arrangement of rides to summonses (1 point).
  • Neighbourhood provider will provide personal hygiene items (2 points)
  • 1 caregiver available for residents (1 point)
  • Full service quarters as per point 3.3.2 (3 points)[5]
• In Styria, Caritas facilities are ‘Partial self-supply facilities’, where individuals get partial food allowance and additionally food/breakfast/lunch in the facility. Individuals receive € 110 per month and pocket money.
• In Carinthia, all basic care facilities with full sufficiency receive € 25 per day. All basic care facilities where asylum seekers can cook for themselves receive € 12 per day. People receive € 6 food allowance per day.

Asylum seekers living in private rented flats receive 36.5% of the needs-based minimum allowance (bedarfsorientierte Mindestsicherung) for citizens in need of social welfare support, which is about € 1,155.84 for subsistence per month (accommodation for a single person in Vienna, rent allowance is calculated individually and will be added).[6] The level of the needs-based minimum allowance varies across the federal provinces, as political agreement to prolong an Austrian-wide regulation after its expiry by December 2016 was not reached. The sum given to a care provider, € 750 per month (€ 25 per day) for accommodation and subsistence of asylum seekers, is below the level of welfare support for citizens, despite staff and administrative costs having to be covered by the care provider.

For children, the daily rate in reception centres is the same as for adults. If families receive financial support for their daily subsistence, some federal provinces like Upper Austria provide a lower amount for children.

As of December 2023 3,772 persons received Basic Care in federal reception centres,^[7] compared to 7,500 at the end of 2022, 4,500 at the end of 2021 and 1,534 at the end of 2020.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children must be accommodated according to their need of guidance and care. The daily fee for NGOs hosting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children ranges from € 40.00 to € 95.00 depending on the intensity of psychosocial care. In some federal provinces like Styria the maximum amount is not given to care providers, although it is evident that only a smaller group are not in need of much guidance and care. Styria has set up a daily special support of €18 for children with special needs, in addition to the maximum amount of € 95. In Upper Austria, the government provides for € 95, which should also cover legal assistance.[8]

Due to the high number of Ukrainians coming to Austria at the start of 2022, the basic care system has shown its dysfunctionalities in many ways: while many housing places had to be closed in the last years due to smaller number of asylum applications and lack of money, there was no system established in case of crisis. Thus, many applications for basic care were not decided upon for months, and thus many people stayed without basic care for months, mostly for asylum seekers. Civil society organisations jumped in and provided housing: more than 70% of all Ukrainians were accommodated in private housing.

In 2022, there was an increase in funding granted to accommodation providers. However, especially the monthly rates for accommodated unaccompanied minors were not raised yet, leading to high numbers of unaccompanied minors being housed in inadequate federal camps. The housing operators, mostly civil society organisations, could not afford to open new housing places in provinces, which led to a backlog of over 600 UAM still accommodated in federal camps at the end of 2022 and still 542 at the beginning of 2024.[9]

[1] Article 9(1)-(3) GVV-Art 15a and the respective Basic Care Acts of the federal provinces. See also: Article 17(1) recast Reception Conditions Directive.

[2] asylkoordination österreich, Kompetenz Netzwerk Asyl, available in German at: http://bit.ly/3liEBG8.

[3] asylkoordination österreich, Nationwide NGO survey on basic services Dec 21/Jan 22, unpublished.

[4] Land Niederösterreich, Contract form for private accommodation providers, available in German at: https://bit.ly/43NKo7W.

[5]  Land Niederösterreich, Contract form for private accommodation providers, available in German at: https://bit.ly/43NKo7W.

[6] Mindestsicherung, Mindest-Standards ab 1.1.2024 – MA 40 – Soziales, Sozial- und Gesundheitsrecht – Sozialinfo Wien, available at: https://bit.ly/3TieWvn.

[7] Basic Care Registration System, 31 December 2022, 2 January 2024, unpublished.

[8] NGO exchange meetings with asylkoordination in January 2024, unpublished.

[9] Basic Care Registration System, 31 December 2022, 2 January 2024 unpublished