After the poll affair

Key witness Beinschab now works as a teacher

Opinion researcher Sabine Beinschab, key witness in the ÖVP polls affair, has made a fresh start in her career: she is now a substitute teacher at a Styrian grammar school.

The "Beinschab Austria tool" has made headlines in recent years: Allegedly doctored surveys by opinion researcher Sabine Beinschab had been paid for with money from ÖVP ministries and then published in the daily newspaper "Österreich" - at least that was the suspicion of the economic and corruption prosecutor's office. The former ÖVP leader Sebastian Kurz profited from this, according to the accusation.

Beinschab was accused of embezzlement and bribery as a participant. Investigations have been ongoing since 2021, and in 2022 the opinion pollster was surprisingly granted key witness status. In May 2023, Beinschab testified in court: She had been "a fool", she said, once again incriminating her former boss Sophie Karmasin. Since then, it has been quiet around the key witness. 

A new start in the classroom
Beinschab now seems to have reoriented herself professionally. She recently became a teacher at a grammar school in Styria. According to information from Krone, the career changer teaches computer science there as a substitute.

The new colleague caused speculation among the school's staff. Beinschab had originally studied product marketing and project management at the FH Wiener Neustadt. 

Applied for a vacant position
According to the Styrian Education Directorate, Beinschab had her first day at work on 13 January 2025. "Ms Beinschab applied for a vacant position at the school. She impressed in the selection process and was chosen for the substitute lessons due to her suitability. Another computer science teacher at the school confirmed her qualifications to the school management," it says. The position had to be filled quickly for pedagogical reasons.

Incidentally, the starting salary for lateral entrants to the teaching profession is 3520 euros gross. The school considered Beinschab to be qualified "due to her several years of teaching experience, her certification as a career changer for basic digital education and geography as well as her immediate availability for the substitute position", according to the education directorate.