In the GOLTC Long-Term Care system profile for Austria, Ulrike Famira-Mühlberger (Austrian Institute of Economic Research) and August Österle (Vienna University of Economics and Business) describe a system characterised by strong reliance on family and migrant carers.

Highlights from Austria’s System Profile:

Austria’s LTC system relies heavily on migrant live-in care (24 hour care) to fill gaps between family care, home care services, and residential care.

Unlike health care, which is financed through social insurance, LTC is financed through federal taxation. The central government is responsible for the cash-for-care system which provides benefits to family carers and financial support for 24-hour care, and the nine regional governments are responsible for the provision of services, which vary widely across regions and municipalities. Most services are provided by not-for-profit organisations or public bodies, with only a small role for for-profit providers. Austria’s LTC system also relies on migrant live-in care (24 hour care) to fill gaps between family care, home care services, and residential care.

Austria is also struggling with workforce shortages and recent reforms to address this include upper-secondary educational programmes with a specialisation on care, paid scholarships for care training and education, additional leave and financial bonuses to make LTC jobs more attractive.

In 2021, Austria piloted the Community Nursing Project. The programme aims at early contact with older people (before LTC need arises), supports and advises family carers (before professional services are considered) and emphasizes preventive and rehabilitative approaches.

With regards financing, recent financial equalization between the federal government and the provinces has increased the resources for the provision of LTC services, but a fundamental reform towards better overall financial management has not yet materialized.

Click here to read the new LTC system profile for Austria

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