Austria's governing coalition has agreed to ban full-face veils in courts, schools and other "public places" as part of a reform programme aimed at countering the rise of the far-Right in the country.

The agreement was made between the ruling coalition of Social Democrats and the centrist People's party as Chancellor Christian Kern attempts to regain the political initiative from the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) ahead of next year's parliamentary election.

"The full-face veil will be banned in public spaces," Mr Kern said after the week-long negotiations concluded, adding that the ban will be implemented over the next 18 months.