Entitlements & Tips

Entitlements & Tips

Valuable tips on your entitlements & more

With a hearing impairment in Austria, you can claim a lot of support from various institutions. This is a list of your rights, funding entitlements, grants and other tips that could be helpful in your everyday life.

Financial Support

There are direct links to the relevant institution in each case below. This data is regularly checked to ensure it is up to date. In the event that you should find incorrect details despite this, or you do not have important details, we would be glad to hear about it so that we can update the page immediately.

Determination of the degree of disability

In order to be able to claim some entitlements, it is generally necessary to determine the disability of your child. This is measured according to the type and severity of the functional impairment using the so-called evaluation regulations (EVO).

You can find more information at https://sozialministeriumservice.at/

Increased family allowance

The increased family allowance is additional to family allowance and is payable for as long as the family allowance is granted. Receipt of increased family allowance depends on a 50 per cent degree of disability of the child or, on reaching majority, if the child is permanently incapable of supporting him or herself.

Increased family allowance should be applied for at the tax office for where you live.
If care allowance is claimed or paid for the child, you must tell the institution paying the care allowance that increased family allowance is being claimed or paid for the child. Please note that a sum of € 60 of the increase in the family allowance is counted as carer’s allowance.

Find out more

Care allowance

Care allowance can be obtained if the following conditions are met:

  • There is a constant need for care and assistance due to a physical, mental or psychological disability or a sensory disability which is expected to last at least six months
  • There is a constant need for care of at least 65 hours per month
  • Ordinary residence is in Austria,  although care allowance can also be paid in the EEA and Switzerland under certain circumstances

The level of care allowance is – depending on the extent of the care needed and independently of the cause of the care need – defined in seven stages.

You can apply for care allowance at your social insurance:

You can find further information in the brochure:“Information on Care Allowance – Explained Simply”

Disability pass

The disability pass is a public photo ID and serves as a national proof of disability (irrespective of the type of disability). You are entitled to a disability pass if you have a degree of disability or reduction in ability to work of at least 50 per cent and you are resident or usually reside in Austria.

Applications should be submitted to the Ministry for Social Affairs. Possession of a disability pass does not give automatic entitlement to any payments. However, by submitting the document (sometimes also other EU countries) you get discounts, for example when you enter various cultural and leisure facilities, events, sights, excursion destinations, ski areas etc.

Find out more

Apprenticeship with hearing impairment

Many workers or people in training with hearing impairment often do not know that some disabled people in work can claim a range of special funding, protection against termination of contract and – if provided for in a collective agreement, service law or works agreements – claim to additional holiday.

Even the employer can receive subsidies and claim tax benefits when employing a beneficiary disabled employee; the payment of the equalization tax also ceases to apply.

A beneficiary disabled employee can receive the following benefits: Funding such as wage cost supplements for acquisition and securing jobs, mobility assistance, techniscal work aids, work-place adaptations or payments for professional training and further training

Special protection from termination of contract – the employer must get the agreement of the Disability Committee before giving notice of a termination of contract. However, the protection against termination of contract only applies after the employment contract has existed for a certain time.

Entitlement to additional holiday – if this is provided for in the collective agreement, service law or works agreement – and entitlement to a tax-free wage allowance or tax advantages

Discrimination at work: The disability employment law prohibits discrimination against disabled employees . Nevertheless, it repeatedly happens that, for example, employees are not appointed because of their disability despite being adequately qualified. This is not permitted. Employees may not be discriminated against on the grounds of their disability – especially not in the justification of the employment contract, determination of pay, award of social benefits, other employment conditions, in further training actions, in promotions or ending of employment contracts.

You can find all the relevant information of the subject of “Working with Hearing Impairment” here!

Tax equalization

As part of the annual employee assessment, a taxable cost for extraordinary expenses due to the disability of a child can be claimed.

Tax-free lump sums:

If NO increased family allowance is claimed for the child, an annual free sum between € 75.00 and € 726.00 is granted, depending on the degree of disability (but at least 25 per cent). This is not a deductible, but no care-related payments may be obtained.

If increased family allowance is received for the child, a monthly free sum of € 262.00 is granted. This is, however, to reduce care-related payments received.

Regularly occurring costs for aids (e.g. hearing aids) cannot be claimed instead of the tax free amounts.

Furthermore, in addition to the tax free lump sums, costs for treatments can be claimed. These include doctors’ fees, hospital fees, treatment course costs for courses of treatment prescribed by a doctor, therapy costs, costs for medicines in connection with the disability and travel costs arising from that. (actual costs or official mileage costs)

Find out more

Broadcaster fees (GIS)

Also known as fees under GIS – beneficiary disabled persons can apply to be exempted from broadcaster fees.
Find out more

Green electricity flat rate

Exemption or cover of the green electricity subsidy costs – beneficiary disabled persons can apply for exemption from the green electricity flat rate.

Find out more

Mobile phone tariff

Some mobile network providers offer special, often reduced, rates for hearing impaired people:

Transport services

To allow children with disabilities barrier-free access to education, the City of Vienna provides free transport. Transport to Vienna’s public compulsory schools is financed by the Vienna Schools department (MA 56) and carried out by qualified transport services as collective transport. Route planning and compilation of the students to be collected is done by the transport services in close cooperation with school leaders and parents/carers. The children are picked up at home and taken directly to the front of the school to the agreed handover point. At the end of school, they are picked up from there and taken home or to the day care center.

All forms and comprehensive information about the transport services are kept with the respective school leadership. The Vienna Social Fund organises the transport service forchildren to the nursery or to schools whose costsare not covered by the MA 56.

More about transport services (Wien GV)

More on reimbursement of transport costs (FSW)

If you should need a transport service for your nursery or school child outside the federal capital of Vienna, it is best to contact the town hall or municipal office of your home or the local aid organisations.

ÖBB [Austrian Railways]

Your child can travel at a 50 per cent reduction in the whole of Austria with ÖBB [Austrian Railways]. You do not need a discount card, you save directly on every journey with the ÖBB. To be able to use the offer, you need an Austrian disabled ID for your child with the following details:

  • Details of the degreeof disability of at least 70 per cent or
    entry “The holder of this ID is entitled to the price reduction according to the Federal Disabled Law.”
  • Guide persons or assistance dogs travel free with the appropriate badge.

Find out more

Useful Tips

Supporting additional technology

The company ihr zubeHÖR and the HEARING CENTER offer useful additional devices for users of hearing implants, like alarm clock systems, FM systems, streaming devices etc:

Immigration & Diversity

Hearing and speech development in children with implants builds significantly on the parents active involvement. For families with a migration background, this often means that communication at home is primarily in the mother tongue. This means the child has the opportunity from the start to participate in family life.

Nonetheless, your child will be faced with the national language by nursery age at the latest and so will grow up bilingually – an additional challenge to your child with a hearing impairment. This means that for you as parents,it is important to have as much information as possible so that nothing can get in the way of your child’s positive development.

Here you can find contacts for support and opportunities to exchange experiences to give you as a parent the best possible support support in this time, despite possible language barriers:

Insurance

The initial adjustment of the audio processor takes place at the clinic about three to four weeks after the cochlear implant fitting. The audio processor is a high-tech device with a monetary value of nearly EUR 10,000.00. Even if Austria’s social insurance accepts repair and service costs arising, this does not cover loss, theft and misuse. For this reason, taking out private insurance for the audio processor is recommended. Both the Allianz and the Donau-Versicherung offer suitable insurance cover.

You can find some forms here for both insurance companies: Insurance forms

Not what we experience, but how we perceive
what we experience is what determines our fate.

Marie Freifrau von Ebner-Eschenbach

Not what we experience but how we perceive what we experience determines our fate.

Marie Freifrau von Ebner-Eschenbach