Nearly 30 years after its abolition, the federal government and Austria’s provinces are still spending more than €40 million on the “old politician pension.” For the first time, ORF has obtained a complete list of all 462 recipients at the federal and provincial levels. It shows how, through opting to remain in the old system and through credited service periods, individuals are still receiving politician pensions for offices they assumed decades after the scheme was abolished. One recent beneficiary is former Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ), but the list also includes other prominent names.
After extensive legal reviews based on the Freedom of Information Act and a Constitutional Court ruling previously won by ORF, the responsible federal and provincial authorities provided the data. Together with publicly available terms of office of lawmakers and government members at the federal and provincial levels, the data form the basis of this investigation.
On May 28, the ministers of the new ÖVP–SPÖ–NEOS government voted in their twelfth cabinet meeting to grant Gusenbauer an “old politician pension.” He turned 65 in February, reaching retirement age. Gusenbauer is among the youngest of the 462 recipients of a privilege that was formally abolished.
Total cost of old politician pensions (in euros)
Burgenland €2,696,069.88
Carinthia €1,595,000.00
Lower Austria €2,633,570.00
Salzburg €2,080,000.00
Styria €2,612,500.00
Upper Austria €1,999,035.54
Tyrol €1,863,491.00
Vorarlberg €2,158,891.00
Vienna €7,140,684.10
National Council €7,279,790.79
Federal Council €980,365.83
Members of the European Parliament €418,089.30
Federal Chancellery €6,558,892.83
Total €40,016,380.27
August 1, 1997 as the cutoff date
When the politician pension was abolished, August 1, 1997 was set as the cutoff. Anyone who had accumulated sufficient qualifying periods before that date remained eligible. Those who were already in politics in 1997 but had not yet completed four years in government or ten years in parliament had to choose between a standard ASVG pension and opting into the old system.
Qualifying periods could still be accumulated years later. However, only service before August 1, 1997 counts toward the pension calculation—with a small exception that benefited Gusenbauer. His pension is calculated using his final, significantly higher salary as chancellor, even though he completed the required insurance years well after 1997.
Average of €152,500 per year
According to ORF’s investigation, politician pensions for former government members average €152,500 per year. Pensions paid by the Federal Chancellery are nearly twice as high as those for National Council members, which averaged €77,500 in 2024. Gusenbauer, who receives a partial pension of about €5,400 gross per month, said in a 2010 interview with Kleine Zeitung: “I am not one of the politicians who look after themselves or arrange a lavish politician pension.”
The Federal Chancellery lists six individuals as “optants”—people who lacked sufficient qualifying periods in 1997 but later became entitled to a politician pension after opting into the old system and continuing to accrue service time.
Karas also receives an ‘old politician pension’
Longtime MEP Othmar Karas (ÖVP), who entered the European Parliament in 1999—two years after the abolition—has been receiving an “old politician pension” as an MEP since 2024. At an average of €59,727.04 per year, it is less generous than pensions for National Council members, reflecting the fact that Austria has only been represented in the European Parliament since January 1, 1995.
Who else is on the list
Among the 462 recipients are former provincial governors Michael Häupl (Vienna, SPÖ), Erwin Pröll (Lower Austria, ÖVP), Josef Pühringer (Upper Austria, ÖVP), Herbert Sausgruber (Vorarlberg, ÖVP) and Wendelin Weingartner (Tyrol, ÖVP).
Recipients by party
SPÖ 206
ÖVP 188
FPÖ 53
Greens 10
LIF 2
No party affiliation 3
Well-known former lawmakers such as Peter Pilz (formerly Greens), Josef Cap (SPÖ), Ewald Stadler (formerly FPÖ) and former Defense Minister Friedhelm Frischenschlager (FPÖ, later LIF/NEOS) also receive an “old politician pension.” The same applies to Klaus Schneeberger (ÖVP), mayor of Wiener Neustadt, who receives a Lower Austria politician pension in addition to his active salary of just over €12,000 per month, and to Ingrid Korosec, president of the ÖVP Seniors’ Association, who receives a pension as a former ombudswoman.
Two politician pensions for Michael Schmid
Former Transport Minister Michael Schmid (FPÖ) served only nine months in the first ÖVP–FPÖ government under Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel before resigning in late 2000. Through credited service from his time in the Styrian provincial government and several months in federal office, he receives a second politician pension in addition to his Styrian pension.
Former Chancellor Werner Faymann (SPÖ) has also been receiving two politician pensions since this year—one as a former municipal councilor and one as a former city councillor in Vienna. Politician pensions are capped: the maximum possible pension in 2025 is €18,125.40, paid 14 times per year.
Other prominent double recipients
Of the 462 former politicians receiving pensions under the old rules, 29 receive two such pensions. In addition to Schmid, former Chancellor Schüssel and former Education Minister Elisabeth Gehrer (ÖVP) also receive two pensions.
Former Interior Minister Maria Fekter (ÖVP), former Styrian governors Hermann Schützenhöfer and Waltraud Klasnic (ÖVP), longtime Vienna city councillor Grete Laska (SPÖ), Interior Minister Karl Blecha (SPÖ), FPÖ honorary chairman Hilmar Kabas, and former ombudsman Horst Schender (FPÖ), among others, also receive pensions from two federal or provincial institutions.
Small portion flows back
The cost of politician pensions is gradually declining. In 2013, federal and provincial governments spent €71 million on more than 1,300 former politicians. Through a “pension security contribution,” recipients must repay part of their pensions. In 2024, this brought €925,000 back to the Federal Chancellery.
