Forms and levels of material reception conditions

Author

Asylkoordination Österreich Visit Website

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

• Asylum applicants can be accommodated in reception centres where catering is provided. Asylum applicants 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. In 2023, all federal states implemented the maximum compensation rate of € 25.[2]
• Basic Care can be provided in reception centres where asylum applicants cook for themselves. In that case, asylum applicants 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, Vorarlberg and Tyrol there is 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 applicants 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 applicants e.g. in Vienna, can receive € 425 (food allowance & rent money) in cash or to a bank account. 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, basic care, available in German here.

• NGOs like Caritas, Diakonie, Volkshilfe, Tralalobe, Integrationshaus, Rotes Kreuz, Samariterbund and others rent private apartments where asylum applicants 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 here.

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 applicants can cook for themselves receive € 12 per day. People receive € 6 food allowance per day.

The introduction of the benefits-in-kind card (Sachleistungskarte) at the beginning of the summer of 2024 caused a stir. The Federal Ministry of the Interior and the province of Upper Austria agreed on a joint pilot project, whereby a federal BBU facility in Upper Austria began issuing residents with a benefits-in-kind card instead of cash. The pocket money is credited to this card. When applicants are assigned to basic care facilities in Upper Austria, they take the benefits-in-kind with them and receive their further financial benefits (via the accommodation provider) also paid out on this card. Only asylum applicants receive the benefits-in-kind card, not displaced persons from Ukraine. Cash withdrawals are possible up to a maximum amount of € 40, as well as payment in supermarkets, pharmacies, etc. The project ‘Sachleistungs-karte’ was put out on public tender;[6] Lower Austria and Vienna did not participate in the tender. It is unclear which federal state(s) will adopt the benefits-in-kind card. Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Vienna already pay basic benefits by bank transfer and have no real need for a new system.[7]

In June 2024, Lower Austria introduced its own ‘payment card’: in addition to Upper Austria, they launched their own payment card project with Pluxee[8] (formerly Sodexho). Displaced persons from Ukraine and private residents are excluded. No cash withdrawals are possible with this model; instead, asylum applicants receive €40/month in cash per person at the beginning of the month. The food allowance is charged to the Pluxee card. The project involves a high administrative effort, as cash payment continues and the Pluxee card is used as well. The Pluxee card is not a debit card, so purchases in pharmacies, at ÖBB vending machines, in social markets (discount stores for people with proven low income), at markets in general or in second-hand shops are not possible. This is the biggest criticism of the Lower Austrian model, in addition to its discriminatory and de-humanising character.[9] The pluxee card was rolled out to the entire province of Lower Austria from September 2024.[10]

Asylum applicants living in private rented flats receive 36.5% of the needs-based minimum allowance (bedarfsorientierte Mindestsicherung) for Austrian citizens, refuges, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection and others in need of social welfare support, which is about € 1,209,01[11] for subsistence per month (accommodation for a single person in Vienna, rent allowance is calculated individually and will be added).[12] 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 applicants, 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 2024, 1,430 persons received Basic Care in federal reception centres,[13] compared to 3,722 at the end of 2023, and 7,500 at the end of 2022.

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 € 112.00 to € 130.00 depending on the intensity of psychosocial care. As mentioned under short overview of the reception system, the daily rates for unaccompanied minors were increased in 2024 and are now € 112.00 instead of € 95.00, or € 130.00 (if the facility is run on behalf of child and youth welfare). 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 € 112. In Upper Austria, the government provides for € 112, which should also cover legal assistance.[14]

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 applicants. Civil society organisations jumped in and provided housing: more than 70% of all Ukrainians were accommodated in private housing. Compared to 2022, the situation has improved as of January 2025, mainly because asylum applications have fallen significantly. The issue of closing refugee centres has resurfaced in the federal states where basic care is provided.[15]

In 2022, there was an increase in funding granted to accommodation providers. However, in particular the monthly rates for accommodated unaccompanied minors were not raised then, 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 in federal camps at the end of 2022. It is hoped that the increase in daily rates decided in 2024 will open up more places for UAM. As of December 2024, 132 UAM were accommodated in federal facilities.[16]

[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 here.

[3] asylkoordination österreich, Nationwide NGO survey on basic services Dec 21/Jan 22, updated December 2023 and December 2024, unpublished.

[4] Land Niederösterreich, Contract form for private accommodation providers, available in German here.

[5] Land Niederösterreich, Contract form for private accommodation providers, available in German here.

[6] Die Presse, Bund startet Ausschreibung für Asyl-Sachleistungskarte, 31 October 2024, available in German here.

[7] Ministry of Interior, ‚Ausschreibung der Sachleistungskarte startet‘, 31 October 2024, available in German here.

[8] For general information on Pluxee, see their website here.

[9] Asylkoordination Österreich: Bezahlkarte statt Effizienz, available in German here.

[10] der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung, ‘Asyl: Ausrollung der Sachleistungskarte in Niederösterreich startet am 2. September’, 22 August 2024, available in German here and ORF Lower Austria, ‘Bezahlkarte: NÖ will bei eigenem Model bleiben’, 18 October 2024, available in German here.

[11] Website of the city of Vienna, available in German here.

[12] Mindestsicherung, Mindest-Standards ab 1.1.2025 – MA 40 – Soziales, Sozial- und Gesundheitsrecht – Sozialinfo Wien, available here.

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

[14] asylkoordination österreich, NGO exchange meeting in January 2024, unpublished.

[15] Asylkoordination österreich, NGO exchange meetings, March, June, September & December 2024, unpublished.

[16] Basic Care Registration System, 31 December 2024, 2 January 2025 unpublished