Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centres in Austria

Drug and alcohol rehab in Austria is built around recognized addiction facilities: counseling and treatment services that the federal health ministry reviews under section 15 of the Narcotic Substances Act and publishes in the Federal Law Gazette. Outpatient care is listed at nearly all of the rehabs in Austria, and residential treatment and detox at some.

Rehab in Austria is listed in Vienna, Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Federal law sets the standards for recognized facilities, while each federal state has its own addiction and drug coordination office for regional questions.

Austrian listings are gathered from public treatment registers, licensing records and accreditor listings, plus the information providers give about their own services. German is the treatment language at nearly all of them, and public health insurance is accepted at most.

How does addiction treatment work in Austria?

Addiction treatment in Austria runs largely through recognized facilities under section 15 of the Narcotic Substances Act, which the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection reviews before listing them in the Federal Law Gazette. Each facility must meet the Act’s quality and confidentiality requirements to stay on that list.

Publicly funded care is listed at most of the rehabs in Austria, with state-funded inpatient rehab and state-funded detox at some. Self-pay appears at only a few.

How do I find a recognized addiction service in Austria?

A recognized addiction service in Austria can be found through the Suchthilfekompass, a federal online directory that searches facilities by state and type of service, or through the ministry’s published list of section 15 facilities. That list is also kept in the federal legal information system, RIS, where anyone can read it.

For questions about services in one region, each federal state has an addiction and drug coordination office. Walk-in rehab is listed at some of the rehabs in Austria.

Who coordinates addiction help in each Austrian state?

Addiction help in each Austrian state is coordinated by that state’s own addiction and drug coordination office, the Sucht- und Drogenkoordination, which answers regional questions. Federal rules on recognized facilities apply nationwide, so the coordination office is the place to ask which services operate in a particular area.

The city pages for Austria describe the public services that operate locally in each place. Aftercare is listed at some of the rehabs in Austria, and sober living at a few, for people who want support after a residential stay. Programs for seniors appear at some, and a few list support services for HIV and hepatitis alongside addiction care.

Is treatment in Austria confidential?

Treatment in Austria is confidential under two laws: doctors and their assistants are bound by section 54 of the Physicians Act, and recognized section 15 addiction facilities are under an absolute duty of confidentiality. The EU General Data Protection Regulation also covers treatment records held anywhere in the country.

That absolute duty is part of what a facility accepts when it is recognized under the Narcotic Substances Act, alongside the Act’s quality standards.

Can young people consent to treatment in Austria?

Young people in Austria can consent to medical treatment on their own once they have decision-making capacity, and section 173 of the General Civil Code presumes that capacity from age 14. Where capacity is lacking, the person responsible for the child’s care and upbringing gives consent in their place.

Programs for teenagers are listed at a few of the rehabs in Austria, including outpatient and residential options for teens.

What does rehab in Austria cost?

Residential rehab in Austria has an estimated typical range of €8,900 to €23,700 a month, and medical detox €5,300 to €16,600 a month. Outpatient care, listed at nearly all of the country’s rehabs, has the lowest estimated range at €1,100 to €3,600 a month, with day treatment at €5,300 to €11,200.

These figures apply to privately paid care; the setting, room type and length of stay decide the final amount. A clinic can confirm in writing what a stay includes. Short-term and long-term residential programs are each listed at a few of the rehabs in Austria, so the length of a planned stay can vary widely from one provider to the next.

Austrian rehab costs by level of care

Austrian rehab costs rise from an estimated €1,100 a month for the cheapest outpatient care to €23,700 a month at the upper end of residential treatment. Medical detox is listed at some of the rehabs in Austria and day treatment at a few, and the table shows all four levels.

Is detox in Austria offered in hospital?

Detox in Austria is offered in hospital at some of the country’s rehabs, which list hospital detox and hospital addiction care. Some list alcohol detox and residential detox, while detox for opioids or benzodiazepines appears at a few, along with outpatient detox for people who can stay at home.

Alcohol is the substance named by most of the rehabs in Austria, and opioids by some.

Is opioid substitution available in Austria?

Opioid substitution is available in Austria from doctors qualified under the Weiterbildungsverordnung orale Substitution, the regulation on further training in oral substitution, who work with public health officers under the Narcotic Substances Act and the Suchtgiftverordnung. A public list of qualified doctors is kept on the lisa-public portal.

Medication-assisted treatment is listed at a few of the rehabs in Austria, with methadone and buprenorphine each at a few.

Can someone in Austria be treated against their will?

Someone in Austria can be placed in a psychiatric ward against their will only under section 3 of the Placement Act, the Unterbringungsgesetz. The person must have a mental illness that seriously endangers their own or others’ life or health, and there must be no adequate way to treat them otherwise.

The Placement Act does not name addiction on its own. Court-referred treatment is listed at some of the rehabs in Austria.

Traveling to Austria for treatment

Austria is in the Schengen area, so visitors from outside the EU can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period, on a short-stay visa where their nationality needs one. Stays of more than 90 days fall under Austria’s national procedures, which run separately from the short-stay rules.

Each city page names the nearest international airport, and rehab near major airports or rehab near mountains can be searched across Europe. Rehab is also listed in neighboring Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

Can I bring prescribed medication into Austria?

Travelers to Austria may bring narcotic or psychotropic medicines for their own needs on stays of up to 5 days, if they can prove that need. From 5 to 30 days, a prescription from the home doctor is required, with the Annex IX form recommended from Schengen states and Annex X from elsewhere.

The amount brought in may not exceed 30 days’ need. For a stay longer than 30 days, a prescription can be obtained from a doctor in Austria, and a letter from the home doctor helps.

Are there English-speaking AA meetings in Austria?

English-speaking AA meetings are held in Austria: Alcoholics Anonymous lists meetings across Austria and South Tyrol, including meetings in English, Polish, Persian and Italian. Its contact number is 01 799 55 99, and the national health advice line, 1450, takes general health questions.

German remains the language of treatment at nearly all of the rehabs in Austria, so therapy in English is worth raising before admission. The health ministry also lists the Rauchfrei Telefon, a national quitline for tobacco, on 0800 810 013.

Rehab is also listed in France, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Greece and the United Kingdom, and all countries appear on the Europe page.