The minister of the Interior () is the ultimate authority for

public security Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensure ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

as well as the head and chief executive of the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

. The incumbent minister of the Interior is

Gerhard Karner Gerhard Karner (born 13 November 1967 in Melk) is an Austrian politician currently serving as minister of the interior. From 2003, Karner was a member of the Lower Austrian state legislature. From 2003 to 2015, he was managing director of the Pe ...

(

ÖVP The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...

). The minister is appointed by the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

on advice of the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Powers and duties

The

Federal Constitutional Law The Federal Constitutional Law (german: Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz, abbreviated ) is a Federal law, federal constitutional law in Austria serving as the centerpiece of Constitution of Austria, the Constitution. It establishes Austria as a democrac ...

itself expressly designates the minister as the supreme authority in matters of

() and places the police directorates immediately beneath the control of the minister. In this capacity, and as a supreme executive organ, the minister bears ultimate responsibly for the direction of

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

and the administration of

security policy Security policy is a definition of what it means to ''be secure'' for a system, organization or other entity. For an organization, it addresses the constraints on behavior of its members as well as constraints imposed on adversaries by mechanisms ...

, and cannot be overruled by any other officer or body within the executive branch. The minister is assisted by a secretary general, who administers the day-to-day ministerial operations, and by a director general for public security, who serves as Austria's top career law enforcement officer and superintends most specialized police agencies. The minister of the interior is the only constitutionally mandated minister position in Austria.

List of ministers

Austrian Empire

Cisleithania

First Republic

Second Republic

References

{{Austrian Federal Ministries Interior Ministers of Austria Lists of government ministers of Austria