Information freedom law brings disclosures in Vorarlberg

Austria’s information freedom law has led to the release of documents on a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak and emails involving the Vorarlberg Economic Association, ORF Vorarlberg reports after the law’s first year.

The Information Freedom Act came into force on September 1, 2025. It abolished official secrecy and established a fundamental right of access to information for everyone, not only journalists. However, authorities and state-affiliated companies have not always been willing to disclose information that could be uncomfortable for them.

Report on Legionnaires’ outbreak released

The source of a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in early 2025 was initially kept secret. The Vorarlberg state government provided its final report only after an information request from ORF Vorarlberg. It had previously refused to answer a request on the substance of the matter.

Emails involving Economic Association published

The state government also initially refused to publish emails documenting interventions involving the Vorarlberg Economic Association. It argued that the correspondence had been fictitiously transferred to the state archive. The Vorarlberg Administrative Court rejected that argument, requiring the government to reconsider the disclosure. The emails were eventually published.

In the correspondence, representatives of the Lech-Zürs mountain railway company and food retailer Spar complained to the Economic Association about a lack of support. Both sides referred to advertisements placed in the association’s magazine, Vorarlberger Wirtschaft. “You know that, in principle, we are always generous and happy to provide support, provided we also get something in return,” a mountain railway representative wrote to Walter Natter, who was then the association’s director from the Austrian People’s Party.

Education data exposed gaps

Before the law came into force, ORF Vorarlberg had requested the release of education data. The Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a law that generally prohibited such disclosures. The successor legislation is now before the court again after lawmakers replaced the absolute ban on providing information with an absolute ban on access to information.

The education directorate ultimately acknowledged that it could not evaluate school-by-school Matura results with reasonable effort. Another request exposed further gaps: after education authorities had fought ORF Vorarlberg’s request for information on school funding for two years, it emerged that the ministry could no longer say which schools had received funding.

Dispute over election poster locations

Vorarlberg limits the number of election posters displayed before a state election. Parties may put up posters at no more than 300 locations, including up to 50 large posters. The state government and the Administrative Court it appointed have argued that the locations should remain confidential.

ORF Vorarlberg documented several poster locations used by all parties to check whether they had been reported and whether the parties were complying with the limit. The plans that parties must submit to the state are needed for that review.

The state government argued that poster locations were a special category of personal data under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. The location could, after all, allow conclusions to be drawn about the political views of the property owner. The case is now before Austria’s Administrative Court.