Austria/ 5.3 Sector specific legislation  

5.3.2 Performing arts and music

There are special regulations concerning theatre funding, stating that the government is obliged to pay an annual supplement (currently 21.3 million EUR) to the regional and city theatres under the regularly agreed Financial Equalisation Act.

The Federal Law on the Establishment of the Salzburg Festival Fund (1950) provides for the Salzburg Festival's losses to be covered by the federal government (40%), the province of Salzburg (20%), the city of Salzburg (20%) and the fund for the promotion of tourism (20%).

In August 1998, federal theatres (Burg- and Akademietheater, Staats- und Volksoper) were reorganised as limited companies under private law (see also  chapter 7.2). The "owner" of such companies is the Republic of Austria. Their cultural tasks are defined in the Federal Theatre Organisation Act, 1998. This states that the government is to provide an annual basic payment. In 2008 this amounted to EUR 138.6 million.

The private Vienna theatres (Theater in der Josefstadt, Volkstheater, Theater der Jugend, Kammeroper) are likewise co-funded by the Federal government on the basis of a special contract with the City of Vienna.

From January 2009 the statutory annual basic funding for the federal theatres was raised to EUR 142.145 million (in 2007 it was EUR 133.6 million, in 2008 it was increased by EUR 5 million to EUR 138.6 million and in 2009 raised by a further EUR 3.9 million).