Responsibilities

© SPÖ/Johannes Zinner

Josef Ostermayer was sworn in by Federal President Heinz Fischer as State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery of Austria on 2nd December 2008.

State Secretaries are appointed in the same way as Federal Ministers. However, they are not members of the Cabinet but participate in meetings of the Council of Ministers in advisory capacity. State Secretaries are bound by the instructions issued by a specific Federal Minister and support him/her in his/her executive duties or substitute for him/her in Parliament.