Austrian lower house passes headscarf ban for under-14s in schools

Austria’s lower house of parliament on Thursday passed a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools for girls under 14 despite uncertainty over whether the legislation will be ruled unconstitutional as a previous ban was five years ago.

The ban, proposed by the ruling coalition of three centrist parties, was also backed by the far-right Freedom Party, which was alone in calling for it to apply to school staff as well.

The only party to oppose the proposed ban was the smallest in parliament, the Greens, arguing it violates the constitution.

Rights groups have criticised the plan. Amnesty International said it would “add to the current racist climate towards Muslims”. The body that officially represents Austria’s Muslims has called it an infringement of fundamental rights.

Austria’s Constitutional Court ruled in 2020 that a previous ban, which applied to under-10s in schools, was illegal because it discriminated against Muslims and the state has a duty to be religiously neutral. Going against that principle requires special justification, it held.

The Greens’ deputy parliamentary leader, Sigrid Maurer, agreed that is a problem, and suggested interdisciplinary teams including representatives of the Muslim community be set up to intervene in schools when “cultural tensions” flare.

Austrian government presses ahead with planned headscarf ban in schools

Earlier on 9 December, 2025, Austria’s governing coalition said it plans to pass a ban on headscarves in schools for girls under 14 despite criticism from rights groups and the possibility that it will be overturned by the Constitutional Court.

The conservative-led government took office in March after the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) came first in last year’s parliamentary election with around 29% of the vote but could not find a coalition partner to govern with.