Making children’s rights a reality – Essential standards for education and training

About the Project

The project focuses on promoting a more in-depth examination of children’s rights in legal practice in Austria. The basis for this is the 2011 Federal Constitutional Act (BVG) on the Rights of Children. A study published by the Federal Chancellery (BKA) highlights both a significant need for action and great potential for improving the protection of children’s fundamental rights. The project builds on this and contributes to the effort through a symposium, in-depth workshops on specific topics, and the development of educational modules for advanced education.

Research Topic and Roadmap

Since February 2011, children’s rights, such as the best interests of the child, the right to participation, protection from violence, and non-discrimination against children with disabilities, have been part of Austria’s catalogue of fundamental rights. However, as a study published in 2025 on behalf of the Federal Chancellery (BKA) and the Children’s Rights Board of the Ministry of Family Affairs has shown, these provisions receive insufficient attention in the practical application by the highest courts and in government administration.

To support legal and interdisciplinary expert discussion, this project is implementing measures to promote exchange and knowledge transfer. These target stakeholders in the highest courts as well as in family-, criminal-, and administrative courts; professionals in the fields of child and youth welfare, education and digitalization; as well as other areas of federal and state administration and civil society organizations. These measures include a symposium on the BVG and children’s rights, in-depth workshops with professionals to discuss relevant issues in children’s rights, and modules for teaching about children’s rights as part of training and continuing education programmes.

The project is being carried out on behalf of the Ministry of Family Affairs’ Independent Children’s Rights Board, with support from the Federal Chancellery (BKA)/Youth and Family Section. The 2025–2029 government programme, “Jetzt das Richtige tun. Für Österreich”, also calls for specific measures to integrate children’s rights education into the training and continuing education of all who work with children.

At the international level, General Comment No. 27 of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on children’s right to access to justice and to an effective remedy is scheduled to be published in 2026. This document is intended to serve as an interpretive guideline for the implementation of the entire UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The project is also intended to contribute to the operationalization of this policy document in Austria.

Research Focus

The project focuses on …

  • strengthening the legal and interdisciplinary examination of children’s rights, particularly the Austrian Constitutional Law on Children’s Rights.
  • raising awareness of children’s rights and their significance for practical application in professional education and training in the fields of justice and administration.
  • strengthening children’s access to justice, in the sense of improved legal protection and the enforceability of children’s rights in Austria.

Research Method

The project is being implemented in collaboration with the Department of Public and Tax Law at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (focus: symposium and in-depth workshops), the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Fundamental and Human Rights (focus: educational modules), and the Vienna Office for the Protection of Children and Youth.

The symposium for representatives from the judiciary, federal and state administration, academia, and civil society will take place in January 2026 at the Vienna University of Economics and Business on the topic “The Federal Constitutional Law on the Rights of Children—Impact and Potential in Theory and Practice”.

Subsequently, topic-specific in-depth workshops are planned to facilitate further exchange among professionals on children’s rights issues and practical experiences. Key topics will include: children’s rights in the digital sphere (including challenges related to the planned “social media ban” in Austria), children’s rights and school law, children’s rights and child and youth welfare, and children’s rights, access to justice, and effective legal protection for children. Based on the findings from the conference and workshops, and taking into account existing programs and identified gaps, core elements for teaching essential fundamentals of children’s rights will be developed for inclusion in or integration into education and continuing education programmes.

Project Data