Institutions for persons with disabilities
Carinthia was granted permission to run years ago even though it is located
12 or 15 km from the nearest villages. It takes an hour to reach the next bus
stop on foot. There are few neighbours with whom the residents can come
into contact in the direct vicinity. (Re)integration is thus de facto impossible.
Inclusion cannot be realised in such an environment.
Another problem affects some 23,000 people in Austria whose capacity is less
than 50% than that of a person without disabilities and who are occupied in a
daily structure or sheltered workshop. There they merely receive pocket money
of about EUR 65 a month regardless of the scope of their work performance.
This occupation is not legally recognised as an employment contract. Those
occupied have only accident insurance but no health or pension insurance.
This contradicts the UN CRPD, which is why the alignment with regular
employment contracts should be a goal for the Government and the legislators.
Regular working
conditions demanded in
daily structures
The NPM often encounters young persons with impairments for whom –
according to the medical model of understanding disability – a long-term
incapacity to work was observed. A classification as “incapacitated for work”
implies that these persons are excluded in any case from assistance by the
Public Employment Service Austria (Arbeitsmarktservice). It is thus no longer
possible to complete a (part) apprenticeship, and the only way to facilitate
daily structure is through sheltered workshops run by services for persons
with disabilities. This is inadequate from a human rights point of view and
highlights the need for reform that can only be solved through political
programmes with the interaction of the Federal Government and the Laender.
The NPM has and will continue to advocate this.
Determination of
long-term incapacity
to work is obstacle to
apprenticeship training
In general, the NPM can report very positively about many institutions and
facilities. The cooperation with the management of the institutions and the
staff was often good. One section of this chapter of the report is dedicated to
positive practices.
The official country review of Austria 2019 by the competent UN Committee
will investigate to what extent or if at all Austria fulfils the provisions of the
UN CRPD. From the view of the NPM, many obligations are still not fulfilled
despite improvements. The deficiencies described at the outset also have to be
rectified in any case. Further problems are discussed in the following sections.
2.4.2
Official country review
for the implementation
of the UN CRPD
Victim support for behaviour that violates boundaries
Creating awareness for development and measures for protection against
violence in institutions and facilities for persons with disabilities is one of the
core tasks of the NPM. In the past few years, the NPM has observed that when
several risk factors converge, physical violence by the clients against other
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