Austria reaches agreement on military and civilian service reforms

The Austrian governing coalition has reached an agreement on models for reforming military and civilian service. Under the new plan, compulsory military service will be extended from six to nine months. This extension will include one month of troop exercises immediately following basic service, followed by two months of militia training at regular intervals.

Civilian service is currently set at nine months, with an option for individuals to voluntarily extend it to eleven months. However, a “military service guarantee” scheduled for 2028 stipulates that if fewer than 13,875 men register for basic military service, civilian service will be automatically and permanently extended by two months.

To manage this potential extension, three options have been proposed for civilian service members: completing the full eleven months at a single location, splitting the service by completing the additional two months at a later date, or fulfilling the requirement through 400 hours of voluntary service over a five-year period. Additionally, new regulations will introduce mandatory standardized training and catalogs for all civilian service areas to ensure consistent qualifications.