LIBERAL PROFESSIONS

Expression covering certain occupations practised on a self-employment basis in the service sector which call for an advanced level of learning or training, mainly involve the personal activity of the individual pursuing the occupation concerned and are subject in Austria to obligatory membership of one of the Chambers of the Professions (see Chambers). The following liberal professions are organized in specific Chambers: pharmacists, doctors, dentists, architects and civil engineers, lawyers, patent agents, veterinary surgeons and accountants. These separate Chambers have voluntarily formed the Austrian Federal Committee of the Professions (Bundeskomitee Freier Berufe Österreichs), with a total membership of 51, 000.