Federal Ministry
Austrian Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport
Tasks
Housing
One of the Austrian government’s main tasks is to create a sufficient volume of affordable housing. Fair, affordable prices for renting and purchasing properties are of vital importance to the people and companies in Austria. As far as the interdisciplinary field of housing policy is concerned, the Ministry is responsible for coordinating housing issues at national, European and international level as well as strategically coordinating construction projects and consolidating the wide range of legal matters in this area. As a central coordination centre focused on the area of construction, we develop funding programmes and pilot projects. Energy-efficient construction and renovation are also important aspects of strategic regional development.
Arts and culture
The arts and culture in all their traditional, innovative, tangible and intangible forms are highly valued in Austria. Austria’s reputation as a country in which culture plays a significant role is founded on world-famous works by renowned artists from music, painting, literature and architecture, and continues today in the young and creative environment of art, theatre, film and design. Being open-minded to arts and culture encourages people to understand and experience the world, and to respect others. The task of the Austrian arts and culture policy is to create suitable conditions for a flourishing and vibrant cultural life. This includes promoting contemporary art work, preserving Austria’s cultural identity and disseminating its cultural inheritance. The Arts and Culture division is responsible for implementing the arts and culture policy at national level.
Media
Free and independent media is a pillar of democracy. One of the primary tasks of the media policy is to promote Austria’s media industry and preserve the diversity of the country’s media. This includes developing targeted promotional strategies for private media as well as securing the public service broadcasting system. The role of the media policy is also to ensure that new dynamics in media forms create an opportunity, not a threat. The digital transformation, the development of international media giants and the challenges brought by new forms of media must all be mastered. At national level, this is the responsibility of the Media department, which is anchored in the Austrian Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport.
Sport
Sport is an essential component in the life of Austrian citizens. It inspires millions of people in the country every day. To establish Austria as a sporting nation, it is important to create the necessary conditions and therefore to ensure the necessary financial and organisational support. While the constitutional powers lie with the Austrian federal states, the Federal Government primarily assumes a promotional role in the area of sport. The task of the Sports division is to promote the societal, social and health policy-related function of sport, sports clubs and sports associations.
The specific tasks are regulated in Federal Ministry law: