1966: Austria’s First Female Federal Minister: Grete Rehor

Minister for Social Administration

In 1966, Austria got its first female federal minister: Grete Rehor was appointed Minister of Social Administration in the single-party government of the ÖVP (Austrian People’s Party) under Chancellor Josef Klaus. Grete Rehor herself did not consider her appointment as minister unusual. To the contrary, she saw it as a logical step that women could also achieve the highest political positions. After all, this corresponded to the structure of employment and voting.

During the four years that Rehor was responsible for “social administration”, the unionist put in place more than 100 future-oriented measures. This included the Labour Market Promotion Act – the building block of an active labour market policy, the Vocational Training Act, as well as a full-fledged farmer’s pension. Maternity protection regulations that still apply today, can also be traced back to Rehor. During her period in office, pensions were increased by 22 per cent and the social budget by 66 per cent.

Based on her own experience, Rehor also knew that economic advancement was only possible with qualified vocational training. This shaped her political action, at the centre of which she placed social security and equality – values anchored in the social teaching of the Catholic Church. In this context, she also promoted the equality of women, such as equal pay for men and women for the same work. However, she was personally still bound to traditional images of the family and saw the main task of women as residing in their role as mothers.

Grete Rehor was the first women to hold a ministerial position and, after Helene Postranecky – Undersecretary of State in the Provisional Government of Karl Renner – the second women to have been a member of the Austrian government.