Life Coaching (Lebens- und Sozialberatung)
Key Facts
- Type: Regulated trade
- Qualification: Diploma course (min. 5 semesters, ~750 hours) OR exam
- Cost: Free registration, exam fees covered
- Online consulting: Yes, possible via video call
- NOT psychotherapy! LSB is a trade, not a health profession
- LSB (§94 Z.46 GewO) = regulated trade. May counsel, NOT treat.
- Psychotherapy = health profession (Psychotherapiegesetz). May diagnose and treat.
- If you suspect a client has a mental health condition, you MUST refer to a psychologist/psychiatrist/psychotherapist.
What You Can Do as LSB
The scope is not a matter of interpretation — it is written out in § 119 (1) GewO, the scope provision for this trade: counselling and support of people, in particular in connection with personality, marital and family, parenting, career and sexual problems.
- Life counseling and personal development
- Relationship counseling
- Career counseling and work-life balance
- Stress management and burnout prevention
- Psychological counselling — named explicitly in § 119 (1), with the exception of psychotherapy
Nutritional counselling — if you have completed the degree programme in nutritional science at an Austrian university, or the training as a dietitian (Diätassistent/in).
Sports-science counselling — if you have completed sports science or physical education at an Austrian university, or hold a diploma from a coaching programme at a federal sports academy (Sportakademie des Bundes).
What You CANNOT Do
- Psychotherapy — the one exception § 119 (1) carves out of psychological counselling
- Diagnose mental health conditions
- Treat psychological disorders
- Prescribe or recommend medication
- Call yourself a psychotherapist or psychologist
Qualification: how to prove it
Lebens- und Sozialberatung is a regulated trade under §94 Z.46 of the Austrian Trade Act (GewO 1994). The standard route is the qualification exam (befähigungsprüfung).
- Examined by: Meisterprüfungsstelle WK
- Exam fee: €0 — exam fees are covered by the federal government
If you cannot sit the exam, these routes are open to you:
- Diplomlehrgang Lebens- und Sozialberatung (5+ Semester, ~750 Stunden)
- Individuelle Befähigung bei verwandter Ausbildung + Praxis
- Gewerberechtlicher Geschäftsführer
Registering the trade
- Cost: Free — registration itself carries no fee
- Where: District administrative authority (Bezirksverwaltungsbehörde)
- Decision within: max. 3 months
- Typically takes: 1-5 Werktage (bei vollständigen Unterlagen)
- Start trading: immediately on registration — you do not have to wait for the decision
You can register in these ways:
- Online via GISA (the trade register)
- Online via USP (the business service portal)
- In person at the authority
Who may register
- Minimum age: 18
- Citizenship or residence: Austria, EU, EEA or Switzerland
- Clean record: no disqualifying convictions (checked by the authority)
Documents to bring
- Photo ID
- Diplomlehrgangs-Zeugnis oder Befähigungsnachweis
- Criminal record certificate
Terms shown in German are the ones printed on the Austrian forms — you will meet them exactly like this at the authority.
Where to go, by province
| Province | Competent authority |
|---|---|
| Lower Austria | Bezirkshauptmannschaft |
| Upper Austria | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Linz/Wels/Steyr |
| Styria | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Graz |
| Tyrol | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Innsbruck |
| Salzburg | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Salzburg |
| Carinthia | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Klagenfurt/Villach |
| Burgenland | Bezirkshauptmannschaft |
| Vorarlberg | Bezirkshauptmannschaft / Magistrat Bregenz |
Sole trader, GmbH, or partnership?
Trade law does not prescribe a legal form — but it does draw one line. Under § 9 (1) GewO, legal entities and registered partnerships (GmbH, OG, KG) may hold a trade licence, but they „must have appointed a managing director (§ 39)“ — a named person who carries the qualification and the legal responsibility for the trade. As a sole trader you are that person yourself.
Whether a GmbH pays off financially depends on profit, drawings, SVS contributions and allowances. There is no general profit threshold, and that question belongs to a tax adviser, not to this page.
Running this trade alongside a job
Nothing in Austrian law forbids running a trade as a side business. Two things about social insurance are regularly misremembered, and both cost money.
- The obligation follows Chamber membership, not profit. Under § 2 (1) 1 GSVG compulsory SVS insurance attaches to membership of the Economic Chamber, which you acquire with the trade licence itself. It therefore applies in a year in which you make no profit at all.
- There is an exemption — but only on application. § 4 (1) 7 GSVG lets very small businesses be exempted while turnover and income stay under the limits it refers to. Nothing happens automatically: without the application, the obligation stands.
If you are employed, check your employment contract separately for a secondary-activity clause — that is a matter between you and your employer, not trade law.
Legal basis: GewO 1994 §94 Z.46 . Last reviewed April 2026. This is not legal advice.