Welcome

The Australian Embassy in Vienna and Permanent Mission to the UN is accredited to Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, and to the International Organisations in Vienna.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Voting in the 2023 Referendum

7 September 2023

On 14 October 2023, Australians will be asked to vote in a referendum to alter the Constitution.

The Australian Embassy in Vienna will be an in-person voting centre and postal vote collection centre.

To be eligible to vote, you must be enrolled. Please ensure that your enrolment details are up to date at the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) website (link is external).

In-person voting will be held at the Embassy in Vienna from 2-6 October and 9-13 October between 10am-12pm and 1pm-4pm. To enter the Embassy you must show photo ID and submit to security screening. Do not bring luggage larger than a standard backpack and do not take photographs of or inside the Embassy.

It is not possible to vote in-person at the Consulates in Budapest, Ljubljana or Sarajevo. Australians unable to vote in-person, can apply for a postal vote (link is external). Postal vote packs will be sent to you from Australia by courier, so you are encouraged to apply as early as possible. The latest date to request a postal vote is 6pm, Wednesday 11 October 2023 local time.

You can mail your postal vote to the Embassy (Gertrude-Froehlich-Sandner Str. 2, 1100 Vienna) or you can drop it off yourself. Postal votes should arrive at the Embassy no later than 4pm, Friday 13 October 2023. Alternatively, you can return your postal vote directly to the AEC in Australia. Postal votes must be received by the AEC no later than Friday 27 October 2023.

It is not compulsory to vote if you are not in Australia at the time of the referendum. If you will be overseas at the time and unable to vote, you can advise the AEC by completing and returning the Overseas Notification Form.

Additional information on the referendum and voting is available from the AEC website and Smartraveller.

 

Appointment of Honorary Consul in Hungary

24 July 2023

The Australian Government has appointed Ms Cecilia Gall as its new Honorary Consul for Australia, resident in Budapest with jurisdiction throughout Hungary.

Ms Gall is an Australian-Hungarian dual national and a Lecturer in Australian Studies at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. As an active member of the Australian expatriate community in Hungary, and through her role at the University, Ms Gall has collaborated with the Australian Embassy to promote Australia’s interests in Hungary for many years.

Ms Gall brings to the role a depth of knowledge of Australian culture, society and politics as well as strong professional networks in Hungary.

Ms Gall maintains a deep connection with her Australian home, Brisbane, to where she first migrated in 1990.

As Australia’s Honorary Consul Ms Gall will provide consular services to Australians in Hungary in accordance with the Consular Services Charter, and is authorised to conduct interviews for Australian travel documents.

Up to 100,000 Australians visit Hungary each year, and approximately 3,000 Australians are living and working in Hungary.

Contact details for the Consulate in Budapest are available under Contact Us.

 

NAIDOC Week: 2-9 July 2023

From 2-9 July we celebrate NAIDOC Week – empowering First Nations Australians to tell their stories and promote their heritage and culture internationally.

This year’s theme is ‘For Our Elders’. It recognises the important and prominent role Elders have played, and continue to play, in First Nations communities and families.

They are revered as cultural knowledge holders, trailblazers, nurturers, advocates, teachers, survivors and leaders.

First Nations communities draw strength from their Elders’ knowledge and experience, in everything from land management, cultural knowledge to justice and human rights, across multiple sectors like health, education, the arts, politics and everything in between.

Find out more about the origins and history of NAIDOC Week at https://www.naidoc.org.au/about/history.

 

National Reconciliation Week: 27 May – 3 June

Australia marks National Reconciliation Week (NRW) every year from 27 May to 3 June, during which we celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and promote reconciliation with non-Indigenous peoples. National Reconciliation Week is also a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The dates for NRW commemorate two significant milestones in the Australian reconciliation journey — starting with the successful 1967 referendum when more than 90 per cent of Australian voters chose ‘Yes’ to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the census. The week ends on the anniversary of Australia’s land High Court decision in the Mabo case when the court recognised native title for the first time.

The theme for this year’s NRW is ‘Be a Voice for Generations’. This motto aims to encourage all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives – where we live, work and socialise.

For more information on National Reconciliation Week, visit here.

 

IDAHOBIT – 17 May

17 May marks the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).

We stand together with the LGBTQIA+ community across the world against all forms of discrimination, including Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia. We work to raise awareness of LGBTQIA+ and Human rights violations and to ensure equality for all.

Together with Diplomats for Equality we have issued a joint statement.

 

Latitude Financial Services data breach

13 April 2023

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is aware of a cyber incident impacting Latitude Financial Services.  

Copies of approximately 103,000 identity documents have been stolen from Latitude Financial. This includes a small number of passports.   

Latitude Financial Services is contacting impacted customers directly and continues to investigate the matter to determine the full extent of the cyber-attack.  

Foreign passports were also compromised through this cyberattack. If Latitude Financial Services have advised you that your foreign passport information was compromised, you should contact the government that issued the passport for advice on what to do.

Impacted passports are still safe to use for international travel. Your passport number cannot be used to obtain a new passport. Robust controls are used to protect passports from identity takeover, including sophisticated facial recognition technology. Further information on how your passport may be impacted can be found on the APO website (link is external).  

Advice on safeguarding your personal information can be found on the APO’s webpage on protecting against scams and identity theft(link is external).   

Customers can also seek help from IDCare (link is external), a not-for-profit organisation that specialises in providing advice and support to the Australian community in responding to identity theft.  

Advice on how to protect yourself and your family from cyber security incidents is available on the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s (ACSC) webpage at: www.cyber.gov.au (link is external).

 

Medibank Private/ahm and other recent data breaches – advice for foreign passport holders

22 November 2022

Medibank Private/ahm have advised the Australian Passport Office (APO) that no Australian Travel Document information was compromised in this breach.

Foreign passports for international students were compromised through this cyberattack. Medibank Private/ahm are contacting impacted customers directly.

If Medibank Private/ahm have advised you that your foreign passport information was compromised, you should contact the government that issued the passport for advice on what to do. This is also the case for all data breaches that impact foreign passport holders, including the recent breaches at Optus and Medlab.

More information:

Medibank/ahm impacted customers:

• Call Medibank on 134 148 (within Australia) or +61 3 9862 1095 (International) 
• Contact Medibank’s 24/7 Student Health and Support line (Medibank international students call 1800 887 283 and ahm international students call 1800 006 745)
• Visit Medibank Cyber Event Updates and Support page medibank.com.au/cybersecurity
• Go to ID Care’s dedicated Medibank and ahm breach response plan).
• See the Australian Cyber Security Centre's Medibank Private alert.

Optus impacted customers:

• Contact Optus customer service directly on 133 937 (within Australia), or +612 8082 5678 (International), or go to their Passport Information(link is external) webpage.
• Go to our Frequently Asked Questions on the Optus data breach and passport information
• See the Australian Cyber Security Centre's Optus data breach(link is external) alert.

Medlab impacted customers:

Contact Medlab customer service directly on +61 1800 433 980, or go to their data breach web page(link is external).

 

OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

The Australian Government encourages Australian enterprises operating overseas and multinational enterprises operating in Australia to observe the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The Guidelines provide voluntary principles and standards for responsible business conduct in a variety of areas, including:

• human rights;
• employment and industrial relations;
• environment;
• combating bribery, bribe solicitation and extortion;
• consumer interests;
• science and technology;
• competition; and
• taxation.

The Australian National Contact Point (AusNCP) promotes the use of the OECD Guidelines and contributes to the resolution of issues relating to their implementation, including facilitating access to conciliation services.

 

Smartraveller website

Smartraveller has the latest, authoritative travel advice so you can be informed and prepared about overseas travel. Subscribe to receive travel advice updates - by simply supplying your name and email address – straight to your inbox.

You can now also subscribe to the new SMS service - by supplying your mobile number – to receive critical alerts in the event of a crisis overseas.

In a crisis, Smartraveller will activate a crisis page on its website. It will make it easier for you or someone you know to contact the Australian Government if you need help. It will supplement the consular emergency hotline.

Visit http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/ to subscribe or connect with Smartraveller on Facebook and Twitter.