Michael FELTEN Pro Mente Austria in collaboration with HPE Member Irene BURDICH (until 2015: Angelika KLUG) Pro Mente Austria in collaboration with HPE Substitute member Tamara GRUNDSTEIN Austrian Initiative for Independent Living Member Martin LADSTÄTTER Austrian Initiative for Independent Living Substitute member Philipp SONDEREGGER SOS Mitmensch in collaboration with Integrationshaus and Asyl in Not Member Nadja LORENZ SOS Mitmensch in collaboration with Integrationshaus and Asyl in Not Substitute member Violence prevention centres: Verein für Barbara JAUK Gewaltprävention, Opferhilfe und Opferschutz (Graz, Styria) in collaboration with Gewaltschutzzentrum Salzburg Member Violence prevention centres: Verein für Renate HOJAS Dina MALANDI Gewaltprävention, Opferhilfe und Opferschutz (Graz, Styria) in collaboration with Gewaltschutzzentrum Salzburg ZARA (Association for civil courage and anti-racism work) in collaboration with Substitute member Member Neustart Roland MIKLAU ZARA (Association for civil courage and anti-racism work) in collaboration with Substitute member Neustart 1.8. Reports of the commissions In the course of 2015, most of the commission members were replaced, as mandated by law. This process represented a major challenge for the commissions to ensure the seamless integration of new heads and new commission members into ongoing activities and visits. Most commission members replaced The commissions consider the shadow monitoring that took place in 2015 with the participation of international experts and all the commissions to be an important element in the content-related development of the NPM. The inclusion of commission members in international projects (e.g. twinning project Macedonia) provided the opportunity to share experience in both directions: experience from commission activities can be passed on directly; at the same time, learning about the activities of other NPMs can be useful for the Austrian NPM. Shadow monitoring In addition to their visits, the heads and members of the commissions are involved in many contacts and in the sharing of information with authorities, facilities, institutions and NGOs. In particular, participation in various working groups, for instance the one established in Sharing of experience 19