She became a federal secretary of the International Union of Socialist Youth in 1980 and worked in a project with unemployed young people between 1985 and 1986.

[1] Alexander Van der Bellen was elected President on 4 December 2016, receiving support from 53.3% of voters and defeating Hofer.

[2][3] Hofer, Bures, and Kopf remained as joint acting President until Van der Bellen was sworn into office[1] in January 2017.

[5] In March 2018 an Austrian court found a hiring decision by her, as the Minister of Transport, to have been gender discrimination.

She had selected a less-qualified female candidate for the ministry department manager job instead of the man who later filed the discrimination case.