On Monday, December 9, 2024, the Federal Fire Brigade Association, the legally recognized rescue and special rescue services and the Austrian Civil Protection Association presented a position paper to the Federal Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner. The aim of the measures recommended therein is to strengthen crisis and disaster management in the long term, to promote volunteer work, which is important for the organisations, to reduce the bureaucracy of operational operations and to increase the number of crisis safety measures available to the population.
“Austria is a country of voluntary work and voluntary work, especially in disaster protection. With the suggestions developed at expert level, we want to further strengthen this position and position ourselves as a reliable partner in crisis prevention and crisis management in the future.”
said Andreas Hanger (President of the Civil Protection Association).
For this newly created position paper, the emergency organizations and the civil protection association developed, among other things, the following measures for a future government program:
Strengthening crisis and disaster protection management (SKKM): An update of the expired SKKM Strategy 2020 is recommended in order to give the cooperation of all emergency organizations a new strategic perspective.
Making volunteering more attractive: The organizations would like to see an expansion of health services for volunteers and a regulation to cover the costs of necessary additional examinations. Particular attention is paid to closing existing insurance gaps, which are particularly important for volunteer workers.
Increasing the crisis resilience of the population: Creation of digital offerings to support individual crisis preparedness.
Less bureaucracy: The national implementation of EU requirements, such as the NIS 2 directive, should be practical. Additional administrative effort and operational costs should be avoided.
The organizations are convinced that these measures will significantly strengthen Austria’s crisis management and thus significantly improve our country’s resilience.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner received the organizations’ position paper at the Interior Ministry’s premises.
“With over 450,000 volunteers, the emergency organizations are a guarantee for the safety of the Austrian population. Together we want to continue working on the crisis security of the Republic of Austria and value and promote the irreplaceable work of volunteers.”
emphasized Interior Minister Gerhard Karner.
The signatory organizations:
Austrian Federal Fire Brigade Association, Austrian Red Cross, Workers’ Samaritan Association of Austria, Malteser Hospitaldienst Austria, Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe Austria, Austrian Mountain Rescue Service, Austrian Water Rescue, Austrian Cave Rescue, Austrian Civil Protection Association