Vienna (OTS) – Today, February 16, the Federal Chancellery approved an adaptation of the existing communication guidelines for gender-appropriate language in official correspondence and external appearances.
It goes without saying that women and men are taken into account in official correspondence and in external appearances; in the future, this should be done by using the male and female forms or using neutral formulations. The Federal Chancellery is thus abolishing the use of stars, colons or the internal I when appearing internally and externally.
The employees were informed about the adaptation and clarification of the communication guidelines via the BKA intranet.
“For me, equality between men and women is an absolute necessity – in life and in language. Language is also about communication and comprehensibility, which is why the German Spelling Council recommends using the male and female forms or using neutral wording. We therefore speak and write about ‘citizens’ or ‘pupils’. Asterisks, underscores, colons, or other special characters inside the word are not recommended. We also want to follow this in the administration, as already outlined in the Austrian plan by Chancellor Karl Nehammer.”
Questions & Contact:
Press office of Federal Minister Susanne Raab
+43 1/53115-0
presse-fim@bka.gv.at
https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at