Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner wants to lower the entry hurdles for the Red-White-Red card - a scheme which aims to facilitate the immigration of qualified non-EU foreign workers and their families with a view to permanent settlement in Austria.
The hopeless overcrowding of Austria's primary refugee centre in Traiskirchen, about 20km south of Vienna, is "unacceptable" for both people living in the area and refugees, Lower Austria's governor Erwin Pröll has said.
A Billa supermarket in Vienna has sparked outrage on social media after it blocked access to a ventilation grill that was often used by homeless people to warm themselves in winter.
A Viennese organisation which assists refugees to find work and shelter has registered a dramatic rise in the number of homeless asylum seekers in recent weeks.
How long is too long to wait for your asylum claim to be processed? With Friday being World Refugee Day, The Local looks into the plight of one man who has been waiting for 18 years.
Austria has increased the number of asylum seekers it granted refugee status to. Last year, 4,345 people were granted refugee status, up from 3,925 in 2012.
The president of the Austrian Red Cross, Gerald Schöpfer, has said that asylum seekers should be allowed to work after being in the country for six months.
