Before an elite and distinguished group of participants at the IMH Special Day on 28 January 2023, keynote speaker Bettina Knoetzl and a distinguished panel took a deep dive into Austria’s new Freedom of Information Act (IFG), examining whether it truly marks a paradigm shift.

Austria is undergoing a transformative move from official secrecy to freedom of information that presents significant challenges and faces stormy resistance along the way, particularly for municipalities, cities, municipal associations, and public enterprises. Bettina Knötzl (KNOETZL, Chair of TI Austria) and a panel of esteemed experts, including Maximilian Kallinger (WU Vienna), Peter Lohberger (Wiener Wohnen Hausbetreuung GmbH), Heidrun Maier-de Kruijff (VÖWG), Stephanie Mezler-Andelberg (Austrian Data Protection Authority), Rudolf Pekar (vgp. Götzl Pekar Rechtsanwälte, Head of TI Working Group on Freedom of Information), Ronald Sallmann (Austrian Association of Cities and Towns), and Hannes Schmid (Austrian Association of Cities and Towns), engaged in in-depth discussions, exchanged experiences, and embraced practical solutions for the law’s implementation.

A big thank you and an acknowledgment of our continuing support to all participants for their valuable insights—we look forward to the further conversation!