In 2001 the Federal Bureau for Internal Affairs (BIA) was established within the Austrian Federal Ministry of Interior as a police oversight and anticorruption body. In 2010 with the entry into force of the Federal Law on the Establishment and Organization of the Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAK) the BIA was transformed into the BAK and received wider responsibilities. The BAK has nationwide jurisdiction in the prevention of and the fight against corruption in close cooperation with the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Economic Crime and Corruption (WKStA), as well as with foreign and international anti-corruptioninstitutions.

The BAK's legal mandate includes and defines a 4-pillar approach:

• Prevention – includes the analysis of corruption phenomena and the development of adequate preventive measures.
• Education – through information transfer as well as educational and awareness raising campaigns.
• Law enforcement – criminal police investigations of corruption and related criminal offences in the public and private sector.
• International cooperation – with national and international institutions working in the field of preventing and combating corruption, as well as exchange of best practices.

Federal Bureau of Anti-corruption – Annual Report 2011