Local and regional authorities - The legal structure of the Republic of Austria

The federal state, the nine federal provinces and the municipalities are referred to as local or regional authorities. Local and regional authorities are legal entities under public law comprising all members of the population who have a geographic relationship to the given authority’s geographic area (e.g. by their place of residence or physical presence in that area).

Regional authorities rely on a number of bodies to fulfil their tasks. Most of these bodies are elected, others (such as the municipal council offices and city administrations) consist of elected bodies, (e.g. political representatives elected for a term of office) as well as nominated or contracted employees.

The bodies representing local and regional authorities are called general representation bodies ("Allgemeine Vertretungskörper"). Specifically, these bodies are the National Assembly, provincial parliaments, municipal councils and, in Vienna only, the district councils (click here for further information on district councils in German language).