Overview However, people should also respect and acknowledge the important work performed by the authorities. When I heard in the media that a man sent in a photograph for his driving license of himself wearing a colander on his head and the authorities still accepted this photograph, I wanted to find out more. It turned out that this “joke” was not in line with legal requirements. People working for the authorities make an important contribution to ensuring that we can live together as we do. I consider jokes at their expense to be inappropriate. As an ombudsman, I expect the authorities to treat people correctly - and in the same way, I expect people to behave correctly towards the authorities. Respectful conduct is imperative. One event in June 2013 will continue to occupy the AOB for quite a while yet: the floods which greatly impacted people in the Eferding Basin in Upper Austria. Looking back at the last 20 years or so reveals that dramatic flood events return at regular intervals. The Federal Government and the Laender are paying compensation to those affected - but extensive plans for protection measures are also under way. This takes time and money. It is my objective to move away from the current system of “distributing handouts” and to re-design payments for such disasters with a new insurance law system. Victims will then no longer depend on payments from disaster relief funds - as they do today. I am intending to present specific suggestions to the legislator in the future. Re-design compensation for flooding 29