Karo Pernegger / Die Grünen · Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0
Why the provincial border mattered
Personal assistance outside employment is a provincial responsibility. The ministry explains that arrangements differ between provinces, which is why it created funding for pilots operating under common conditions. The initiative sought to reduce those differences through cooperation rather than by transferring every responsibility to the federal government. For a person arranging support, the distinction is practical: the existence of a federal guideline does not itself mean that every province offers the same service or that an individual can apply directly to the federal funding programme. [4][3]
What the framework proposed
The original guideline set out common requirements for funded projects, including individual assistance needs and arrangements for employing assistants. The federal contribution could cover up to half of eligible costs, subject to a cap per assistance hour. The framework also opened a route for people with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, groups often excluded by narrower assistance schemes. Its ambition was support across life domains, with simplified administration, rather than making a person reorganise their assistance whenever they moved between paid work and other activities. [3][2]
Self-advocates welcomed the change
BIZEPS chair Martin Ladstätter welcomed the additional funding and the prospect of regular employment arrangements for assistants. The organisation identified Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg as the first participating provinces and noted that the others were invited to join. It also highlighted an announced single contact point intended to simplify accounting. These were contemporary expectations for a developing programme. They should not be read as evidence that all nine provinces had implemented identical assistance or that the promised administrative simplification was already available everywhere. [2]
“We are pleased that the federal government is providing additional funding to make this possible.”
Funding conditions and individual control
The ministry’s later description still presents the initiative as a harmonisation project involving provincial offers, federal co-funding and evaluation. It also describes guidance intended to extend access to people with learning difficulties, intellectual disabilities or psychosocial disabilities. This makes provincial participation and actual eligibility rules essential to understanding the reform. Common funding conditions can support wider access, but the experience of personal assistance also depends on who qualifies, how needs are assessed and how much control the person has over daily support. The 2023 guideline was a route towards change, not a universal individual entitlement. [4][3]