As mentioned earlier, Austria launched the implementation of the 2030 Agenda with a Decision by the Austrian Council of Ministers in January 2016. In line with its universal, integrated and interrelated nature, the Decision of the Council of Ministers emphasizes a mainstreaming approach. Hence, the SDGs are integrated into all activities of Austrian politics and administration in an efficient, goal-oriented and autonomous manner. The sectoral ministries will utilize their existing multi-stakeholder strategies and programming processes to take the SDGs into account in the respective national policy frameworks. Thereby, well-established structures of numerous national policy frameworks may be deployed for the enhancement of SDG implementation.

Additionally, the SDG Focal Points of each ministry teamed up in an inter-ministerial working group, called IMAG, co-chaired by the Austrian Federal Chancellery and the Ministry of European and International Affairs – with particular involvement of the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, the Federal Ministry of Digital and Economic Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection. This working group accelerates information sharing on the Agenda 2030 and provides guidance on national reporting. Moreover, it coordinates reporting at the federal level on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

In March 2017, the working group published the Outline 2016 - Contributions to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the Austrian Federal Ministries (German). The Outline 2016 provided information on the general approach taken, the national policy processes and on the international dimension of the SDG implementation in Austria as well as a basis for further discussions with Parliament, civil society and other stakeholders.

Further work has been carried out by Statistics Austria on the development of the national  indicator report in conjunction with Austria`s first Voluntary National Review (VNR). National indicator works and selection are compatible with the UN guidance and should be regarded in addition to Eurostat reports on SDG progress.

At its level, the former Austrian Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism also devised an action plan, “SDG Action Plan 2019+” in 2019 tracking the ministry's then activities including its future planning with respect to the SDGs.